Kingdom Hearts: The Soulkeeper
by Loralata
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi set out to answer King Mickey's message but while traveling to Radiant Gardens they meet and old fried, Sora's sister, Enya. Together the battle a new evil that seem bond to control not only Kingdom Hearts but Sora as well. REVIEW!
1. Radiant Gardens

**Before I begin my story I should explain some things that are different about my story then they are in the games. One, Kairi never went back to Destiny Island, read the story and it will make sense. Also, Sora and the others can only use magic when they use Wisdom and Master Form; it's too easy if they can just use Cure the moment someone gets hurt. And the story that happens in Birth by Sleep – never happened in my story, just go with it. I hope you enjoy my story. **

…**.**

_We once were children, innocent in our mind. But as we age, some of us could gain the whole world, but lose our souls. And although at times we feel lost and neglected, we cannot forget…we are all connected._

CHAPTER 1: Radiant Garden

Sora, lead the way down the crooked back alley. His keyblade was gripped firmly in hand, glowing slightly in the dim light. He turned around when he heard footsteps coming up behind him.

"Sora, what's going on?" Riku said coming to stand next Sora, his bright teal eyes glancing down at his friend. "Shouldn't we go and see the King; he needed our help didn't he?"

It was true. Sora and Riku had just made it out of the realm of darkness when Kairi had found a message in a bottle. It was a letter from King Mickey. At the thought of the letter Sora pulled it out of his pocket. Opening the folded paper, Sora read the message for what must have been the tenth time.

_I want to tell you something important. There were memories still asleep in you Sora, and those fragments of memory are connected to the future and the past. Sora, Riku, Kairi, the truth surrounding the Keyblade has many connections inside your own hearts. Sora, everyone who is connected to you is waiting. The only one, who can heal their sadness, is you. It's possible that the travels up until now may have been easy compared to what's next. Everything you thought to be accidental is really a connection. It seems the door to a new adventure, is already open. _

"I know that the King needs us, but right now, I have a feeling that we're supposed to be here." Sora grinned at Riku, his electric blue eyes sparkling. "Besides, we can go and see him, Donald, and Goofy as soon as we're done here."

"And, why are we here?" Riku repeated folding his arms. Sora shrugged, a dumb grin spread across his face. He continued to walk down the alley looking left and right, looking for something. Riku rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Sora wasn't even sure why they had come to Hollow Bastion. All Sora knew was that right before they entered the passageway through the worlds, he had the sudden urge to go to Hollow Bastion. So here they were.

Kairi followed the two boys in awe. She could do nothing but stare at every building and in every crack and corner. Kairi had never really seen any of the other worlds, for most of their adventures she had been in a deep sleep under the power of darkness. She smiled at Riku, her hands behind her back.

"Who are we to question the keyblade bearer?" Kairi asked, watching Sora admirably. She tucked a lock or reddish-brown hair behind her ear still smiling. Riku ground his teeth. He was about to remind Kairi that he also wielded a keyblade, when they heard something.

Just ahead of them all of them could hear what sounded like metal slashed through the air and shouts, definitely the sounds of a battle further up the alley. There was a scream and then, silence. The three friends froze. Sora's eyes widened and he began to run.

"Sora, wait up!" Kairi cried, but Sora was already rounding the corner.

"It came from the courtyard near the bailey!" Sora shouted over his back still running.

Riku raised his hands, summoning his dark blade, and quickly followed his friend. Kairi was right on his heels, her own keyblade summoned as well. The two of them caught up with Sora rounding the corner, they saw a horrific sight. A girl, was crumpled on the ground, her long, dark brown hair obscuring her face; at least thirty Heartless surrounding her prone form. Sora and Riku rushed forward, ready to fight.

"Hey, back off!" Sora shouted lunging forward. One of the Heartless jumped out of the way then leapt forward to attack. The rest formed a ring around the girl. Sora slashed through the shadow Heartless.

Riku and Sora ducked and weaved but Heartless were putting up a pretty good fight. Sora wished he had Donald and Goofy with him but they were with the King. Kairi had joined the brawl but she suddenly screamed, "Riku, look out!"

Riku turned to see a Heartless centimeter away; he wouldn't have time to block the attack. He took a step back, even though he knew in his gut it was no good, suddenly a curved dagger pierced through the center if it's dark body, where its heart should have been. In a burst of white light it disappeared.

Riku looked at his rescuer. It was the girl they had been trying to protect. Her slim frame shook as if it took all her energy just to stand. Her hair formed a dark curtain around her face, falling around her elbows. She looked up at Riku and he could see her eyes, blue as pale sapphires, and strangely familiar.

"Enya?" He asked taking a step towards her. Sora's head whipped around at Riku's word. He stared at the girl; her hands were still gripped around the dagger, another was on the ground near her feet.

She looked so different, Sora hardly recognized her till he stepped closer to get a better look at the girl. She was more muscular under her pale skin. Her hair was longer and her face looked gaunt but there was no doubt that it was Enya.

She continued looked at Riku for a second, and she gave him a small smile. Then her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Sora ran forward catching her before her head could hit the pavement. She had fainted.

Kairi ran forward leaning over Sora's shoulder. Riku knelt down staring at his old friend. She looked like she'd been through an ordeal. Her black vest was torn to pieces and the long-sleeved undershirt was so dirty and blood splattered that the white material was barely visible. Her skirt was torn as well and her shoes were worn out. Sora cradled her head, his own bent over her.

"Will she be alright?" Kairi asked. Sora didn't look at her. He had begun to shake. Riku stood. He bent over, scooping the girls limp body into his strong arms. Her head lulled onto his chest.

"She needs help. Where can we take her?" Riku asked Sora, who hadn't moved, "Isn't there anywhere that's safe?" Sora was silent for a long time still not moving.

"C'mon Sora we gotta get her out of here." Riku said looking down at the girl cradled in his arms. He knew that this had to be hard for his best friend.

"Merlin's, we can take her to Merlin's." Sora said quietly. Kairi put her hand on his shoulder comforting him as best she could.

"Lead the way then." Riku said gruffly adjusting Enya in his arms. Sora stood slowly stumbling down the alley. Kairi and Riku followed as Sora climbed a flight of stairs.

"How do you think she got here?" Kairi asked quietly looking at the sleeping girl. Riku only shook his head, he had no idea how their old friend had made it into the other worlds. He felt a pang of guilt; he hadn't seen her in two long years. Enya looked so different but, how else had she changed? Sora stood in front of a large wooden door. He began to pound his fist against it as hard as he possibly could. They heard shouting from inside.

"Alright then alright keep your pants on." The door opened to reveal Merlin looking slightly annoyed but his expression changed when he saw Sora standing on the steps. "Sora my lad, my goodness I thought that you were back on the islands, or at the very least at the castle with the King."

"Merlin, I – we need your help." Sora said shakily. Merlin's face filled with concern.

"What is it; did something happen to Donald, or Goofy?"

"No Merlin it's –" But Sora couldn't finish. Riku stepped forward so that the old wizard could see the limp figure cradled in his arms.

"Oh dear." Merlin muttered looking at the group, "Come in, and quickly."

….

Merlin examined the young woman who was lying across the large sofa. Her breathing was very slow and quite.

"She's incredible weak," He murmured tugging at his long white beard. He pulled back one of the sleeves to reveal several long, shallow gashes across her arms, "Heartless attacked her and did quite a bit a damage, but her heart is strong. She's incredibly lucky she didn't become a Heartless herself. She should wake soon enough."

Sora let out a breath that he hadn't realized he known he'd been holding. He put his head in his hands.

"So," Merlin asked straightening, "Who is sh-"Before he could finish the door banged open and three people entered.

"Merlin," Leon said striding forward, his arms crossed, "We got a problem, the security system let four entities in and we don't –" Then, he saw the four teenagers sprawled around the room.

"Oh."

Yuffie poked her head around from behind Leon. A grin spread across her face when she saw Sora sitting in the chair next to the sofa.

"What's up Sora?" She said bouncing forward and giving him a hug. She ruffled his hair and looked around, "Hey, where's Donald and Goofy?"

"They're with the King right now." Sora stated.

"Oh, well that makes sense." Yuffie said adjusting the headband that kept her black hair out of her face. "So Sora what are you doing here? I thought you were on your way home?"

Before Sora could respond Cloud spoke up. He was still in the doorway leaning on the post, looking bored.

"Who are they?" He asked flatly, nodding his blonde head towards the other teenagers in the room.

"This is Riku, and Kairi, my friends from home." Sora said pointing at each of them in turn.

"Ah," Yuffie said springing forward to shake their hands, "We finally get to really meet the famous Riku, and Kairi great to see ya again, you're all grown up. We've heard a lot about you two." Both Riku and Kairi looked a little awkward.

"I'm Leon." Leon said stepping forward gripping Riku's hand firmly, "This is Yuffie and –"

"And the grumpy one in the doorway is Cloud." Yuffie giggled. Cloud only glowered at her gray eyes flashing. Cloud looked at the last teenager, still lying sprawled across the sofa.

"And her?"

"That's Enya." Sora said looking at her sadly. Cloud only grunted but Leon looked confused.

"Enya, you never mentioned her, what does she have to do with you three?"

"Everything," Sora said not looking away from Enya's dozing figure, "She's my older sister." The room fell silent.

….

Sora was lying on the beach his eyes closed, daydreaming. He inhaled the salty smell of the sea and smiled, letting the warm sun rays sink into his skin. It was a perfect day, or at least it was until a huge, icy cold, splash of water splattered across him soaking him from head to toe.

Spluttering Sora sat up to see Enya standing over him holding a bucket. She was doubled over in laughter her shoulder length hair blowing around her in the breeze.

"What was that for?" Sora said shaking water droplets off of his body like a wet dog.

"Hey watch it," Enya shrieked jumping out of the way of the flying water, "I was just giving you part one of your birthday gift." She had finally stopped laughing but a wide grin was spread across her face.

"And part two?" Sora asked looking at his sister with worried blue eyes. He could only hope this wouldn't be too painful.

"This," Enya said chucking a long parcel at him. Sora caught it deftly. Enya sat in the sand next to him, leaning back on her elbows, "happy big 1 – 0 little bro."

She stretched up and ruffled Sora's light brown, spiky hair. Sora shoved her off trying to look annoyed. He examined his gift. It was neatly wrapped in a brown paper. He opened it quickly to reveal a wooden sword.

"Wow!" Sora said in awe holding it up. It had been carved from drift wood with designs along the wooden hilt. A bright blue stone set right in the middle. It looked wonderful. "You made this?" He asked. Sora stood swinging the sword around in the air, grinning as it whipped through the air.

"Of course," Enya said sprawling out, her dark hair spiraling out. "I made one for Riku two years ago on his tenth, but his has a dark purple stone. I made one for myself last year."

Enya pulled a sword from her belt loops. It was made of slightly darker wood and there were leaf patterns down the blade and a red stone in the hilt. "In a few months I'll give Kairi hers." Enya explained sliding her sword back into her belt. "I think she'd like a pink stone though."

Sora ran over and gave Enya a big hug. She giggled, hugging him back and ruffled his hair again.

"Am I interrupting?" Riku came striding down the beach. He too had the wooden sword Enya made him, clamped firmly in his hand. Enya had out done herself. Riku's sword was made of a wood that looked almost black. The purple stone flashed in the sunlight.

The siblings broke apart. Enya had a sly grin on her face; she walked over to stand next to Riku. He had the same grin plastered across his face. Sora suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Sora," Enya said way too sweetly, "did I forget to mention part three?" She pulled out her own drift wood sword again still grinning. Sora gulped. He stood, turned and ran away as fast as he could. Enya and Riku were close on his heels.

"Get him!" Riku yelled. They all laughed as they chased Sora round and around.

….

"Your sister," Leon said looking between the two teenagers, "you to do look a lot alike."

It was true. They both had the same face shape, the same colored skin and Leon was sure the same colored eyes. He couldn't be sure because her eyes were still closed. Cloud had finally joined the rest of the group and stood next to Yuffie.

"So, why is she here?" He asked accusingly, "Did you bring her?"

"No. But, I was wondering the same thing." Riku said stepping forward, speaking for the first time since entering the house. He looked at his friend. "How did you get here, Enya?" He asked the sleeping girl.

She moaned slightly and began to stir at that moment as if Riku's words had been a slap to the face. Sora, Kairi and Riku rushed to her side, the others keeping their distance. Enya groaned again and opened her eyes slowly, fluttering behind a thick line of dark eyelashes. Seeing the teenagers hovering around her she whispered hoarsely.

"Sora, Kairi, Riku?"

All of them nodded. Enya blinked several times, then her eyes widened and she sat up. Faster than anyone would have thought possible Enya flung her arms around Sora's neck. She began to cry quietly.

"Sora, it's really you. I can't believe it!" She pulled away putting her hands on either side of his face. She hungrily looking over every inch of his face, making sure it was really her little brother.

Sora was crying too, "I missed you too Enya."

Enya laughed slightly, and then froze. She stared at him for a second then drew back her arm, and punched him hard, in the middle of the chest. Sora tumbled over backwards in complete shock.

"Ow!" Sora yelled rubbing his throbbing chest. "What was that for?"

"You idiot!" She screamed tears streaming down her face, which had been twisted into a mask of pure rage. Enya stood and grabbed the front of Sora's shirt, yanking him to his feet.

"Two years," She spat, in a deadly low voice glaring Sora right in the eye, "You've been missing for two years! Do you have any idea how worried sick Mom and Dad have been?"

Sora winced, and it had nothing to do with the pain in his chest. He hadn't really thought about his parents and he was a shamed of it.

"Enya, look I'm really sorry." Sora said quietly, "But if you would just –"

"Oh you're sorry!" Enya shouted with a touch of hysteria. Leon, Yuffie, Merlin, and Cloud stood shocked as they watched the exchange; if this was sibling love they were all happy to be an only child.

"How do you think I felt?" Enya punched Sora again, this time on the arm, "My fourteen year old brother, and my best friends gone!"

Riku came to Sora's aid pulling Enya off of him, it was an effort. "Enya, listen, calm down." Riku said holding her back; she looked like she'd love nothing more than to throttle Sora.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" Enya screamed struggling against Riku's fierce grip. She growled at Sora who started backed away. He raised his hands in front of him, ready to defend himself if Enya broke loose.

She continued to struggle, but when she realized she couldn't break free, she went limp. Her head was bowed, her hair hung in front of Enya's face. Her next question broke her three friend's hearts.

"Didn't you care?" Enya whispered, as Riku held her up. "How could you just leave me there?" Riku released her from his grip slowly, and Enya didn't make any movement towards Sora.

"Enya, we didn't mean to leave you," Riku replied quietly looking at his friend, her back still to him. "You gotta understand that."

She turned slowly, her eyes brimming. "No, I don't understand. I don't understand any of this."

"Sora and the others can explain it all to you, later." Leon said looking at the four friends. "Right now we need to ask you some questions."Kairi stepped forward leading Enya back to the sofa. She sat shakily and Kairi and Sora sat on either side of her. Riku continued to stand, watching.

"Enya," Leon said slowly sitting in a chair backwards, his hands resting on the chair back. "How'd you get here to Hollow Bastion."

Enya sat there for a few seconds; Sora reached out and squeezed her hand gently. She smiled slightly then looked into Leon's dark brown eyes. "I don't…really know." She said slowly.

"Oh please." Cloud grumbled from the corner of the room. Enya's head snapped around to glare at Cloud.

"Look it's the truth okay; I'm not sure what happened. I was on the beach trying to rebuild the rafts."

"You were on Children's Island?" Kairi asked surprised. Enya nodded bluntly not looking at her, still glaring at Cloud.

"Yeah I would go out there almost every day. Anyways, I was coming back to the beach and I saw Sora, and Riku, and Kairi. They were just standing there by the paopu tree, where we always hung out. I didn't know what to think so I just went after them. Before I could get to them, Sora pulled this giant – key thing out of mid air, there was a weird flash and they were gone. Then –" Enya paused.

"What?" Yuffie asked inquisitively, she'd found a seat next to Leon and was listening fervently.

"Well," Enya continued, "this, I don't know – black hole – opened out of nowhere. I must be a complete idiot because I went into it. I just thought – knew – that it would lead me to Sora and the others."

"Extraordinary!" Merlin exclaimed, "You went into the darkness completely defenseless and came out alive."

"I was, for a while."

"What do you mean?"

"I was walking through the darkness when those freaky, black things came out of nowhere. I fought as best I could without a weapon, that didn't work out so well." She automatically ran a finger down one of the long scars on her arm.

"I kept running and then, these appeared." Enya stretched both hands out in front of her. A bright flash filled the small room and two daggers had appeared in her clenched fists. The daggers were long and curved at the end of their sharp points. They were made of silver and bright gold and glowed in the candle light. Yuffie's large black eyes widened and she reached out a small hand towards one of the daggers. She stopped and looked at Enya.

"May I?" she asked. Enya nodded and Yuffie took one of the daggers and examined in thoroughly. "There's something written on it." Yuffie said squinting. "Coia ei kalian." She reached out and examined the daggers twin,"_ constipatus per obscurum_"

Another flash of light and the daggers were back in Enya's hand. Her eyes were easily the size of dinner plates. She loosened her grip and they disappeared. Cloud stepped forward, "That's just like Sora and the Keyblade – it always goes back to him." He looked at Merlin, "Those phrases mean anything to you?"

"No, but I'll see if I can find anything." Merlin's eyes scanned the hundreds of books scattered everywhere through the room.

Leon returned he hard gaze to Enya. "Go on."

"I started to fight with the daggers and they definitely worked." Enya grimaced slightly, "But, it felt like those shadow things were following me."

"That's what the Heartless do," Sora said looking at his sister, "They go after people who live in the light and try to drag them into darkness. They take people's hearts."

Enya's face blanked, "The what?"

"Heartless, that's what those black shadows that attacked you are called." Kairi explained.

"If you say so…" Enya murmured under her breath, "I was able to get past them and ended up it this freaky place. No offense." She added looking between Merlin, Yuffie, Cloud and Leon.

"None taken." Cloud muttered.

"I didn't see Sora or the others, and that freaked me out. I started to wander and ended up in that courtyard area when more of the Heartless appeared. I fought the best I could but started feeling strange, I was getting weaker and weaker. I screamed, then – I must have blacked out 'cause that's the last thing I remember."

Riku was surprised, "Really, that's the last thing you remember, at all?" He could definitely recall Enya stabbing the Heartless that had attacked him, not that he was going to remind her.

Enya nodded, looking at Riku with confusion. "Yeah, well other then waking up here and beating the tar out of Sora." She glanced at her brother smiling sheepishly, "Sorry about that by the way."

Sora grinned at her, knocking her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, I – I barely felt it." His chest and arm throbbed slightly.

"I don't like this." Cloud suddenly said walking over to stand beside Leon. Leon hadn't moved during the entire story.

Enya laughed sarcastically, "Huh, yeah me neither."

Cloud folding his arms he looked sternly down at the teenage girl. "I mean I don't like how this happened. Your brother comes back after two years and your right there. He disappears again, and a door through the darkness just happens to appear. Those daggers of yours happen to find you when you need them. Then, you end up in the exact world that Sora and your friends are in."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi stared at Cloud in shock. Enya looked at him coldly, "Well it doesn't really matter if you like it or not, it the truth."

"Maybe…" Leon mused rubbing his temple with his thumb and forefinger. Enya's icy glared snapped onto Leon.

"Maybe – there's no maybe – it's the truth."

"Look," Cloud said calmly, "It's not that we don't think you're telling the truth, it's just too convenient."

Enya was on her feet in seconds staring Cloud down. Her voice was low with anger, "My brother has been gone for two years, and you want to lecture me on whether it's convenient or not!"

"I understand that and it had to be hard but –"

"But nothing!" Enya shouted her sapphire eyes flashing.

There was a loud crunching noise and the door burst in, flying off its iron hinges. A Nobody, slid through the doorway. Its white body heading straight for Enya, she let out a small gasp as it lunged for her.

Riku leapt towards Enya, knocking her to the ground, toppling Merlin off his chair. Kairi screamed as she fell off the sofa. Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie had their weapons drawn but it was too late. Sora had summoned his Keyblade in record time, slicing it through the air and straight into the Dusk. It vanished into the darkness.

Riku was still shielding Enya from harm when she let in a sharp intake of breath. Riku glanced down at her. Enya gasped again and was holding one arm around her chest, the other clutched at Riku's shirt. Sora ran to knell next to his sister.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked quickly, he grabbed her hand as she shook harder.

"Enya you okay?" Sora said lifting her head slightly. Enya took a few deep breaths then gave Sora a grim smile.

"I'm fine. Just lost my breath, it's been happening ever since you three –" Enya stopped when she saw the looks of guilt and pain on their faces. Kairi came over and help Enya up from under Riku.

"What happened?" Leon said lowering his weapon. He walked over to the four friends.

"For some reason," Merlin huffed as he stood and stood his chair properly, "The Heartless are attracted to Enya, why though?"

"Maybe it because she's related to Sora," Yuffie piped up, "I mean the Heartless are always after the Keyblade master, the sister of one has got to be pretty high up on their hit list." The others nodded and Enya looked if possible even more confused. This was too much for one day.

"Keyblade master? Wait, you mean the huge key you were carrying around? Is being a Keyblade master a big deal or something?"

"Well Riku and Kairi have keyblades too, but for some reason this one," Sora summoned his keyblade, "this one is special."

Sora's keyblade had started to glow and Enya's daggers had reappeared, floating in midair. Everyone's eyes followed the two blades as they floated over their heads the two curved tips met in the air to form,

"A keyhole!" Sora was shocked; he glanced down the glowing keyblade in his hand. He raised the blade till the tip was pointed directly towards the center of where the daggers met. A beam of light erupted from the keyblade and rush to the daggers. A doorway had opened. Enya caught the daggers as they floated down back toward the ground.

Sora turned to face Yuffie, Cloud, Leon and Merlin, "We have to go, keep an eye on Enya will you?"

"Excuse me?" Enya said hands on hips glaring down at her brother; she was a good five inches taller than him. "I'm coming with you. I'm not losing you three again."

"You don't know anything about any of the worlds or anything about fighting." Sora said exasperated.

"I don't really know that much about the worlds either, Sora and I'm coming." Kairi pointed out.

"As for fighting…" Enya said slowly. She sprang forward. Sora barely had time to block her as the daggers came into contact with his own blade. Enya quickly hooked the keyblade with both daggers, making it impossible for him to swing the keyblade. Enya leaned in. "I'm coming, and I'm not leaving – till you do. Got it?"

Sora glared at Enya, she only smiled. He nodded and sighed. "Fine, come on."The friends stood together and in a blinding flash they disappeared.

….

Everyone landed inside the gummi ship, it was a tight squeeze, seeing as the gummi ship was only meant for three people and there were four of them. _"It's gonna be insanely tight in here once Donald and Goofy join us."_ Sora thought as he began to steer towards Disney Castle. Riku came to knell next to Sora's chair as Kairi chatted excitedly with Enya.

"I don't know about this Sora," Riku said in hushed tones, "Maybe we should leave Kairi and Enya at the Castle, or better yet, send them back to the islands." Sora glanced over his shoulder at the two girls and sighed.

"I don't think that's gonna work Riku," Sora replied, "Kairi is a good fighter and she's determined to come along this time, I don't think we could stop her."

"And Enya?" Riku asked. The question made Sora laugh slightly. He shook his head.

"Maybe you don't remember my sister's temper but I sure do." Sora said, "If we even think about asking her to stay behind she'd probably slug me again."

"Yeah," Riku said standing, "She always did have a short fuse."

"I heard that." Enya shouted from her seat, "and you're right, I would." Kairi giggled and slid out of her seat to stand on Sora's other side.

"So, where are we headed now?" Kairi asked glancing at the two boys. Riku shrugged and elbowed Sora.

"To Disney Castel," Sora said gripping the wheel more firmly, "the King is the one who wrote us the letter. He might be off fighting Heartless, but it's a good place as any to look for him." There was a flashing light that told them that they had arrived. "Be careful, the landing can be kinda hard to get the first time."

….

**If you have any questions, any questions at all – about the storyline or characters – don't hesitate to ask. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of ****Kingdom Hearts: The Soulkeeper****.**


	2. Disney Castle

**CHAPTER 2: Disney Castle **

Everyone's feet hit the ground as they landed outside. Enya stumbled and knocked into Sora, who fell into Kairi. Riku stepped to side to avoid the domino effect. He shook his head as he glanced down at the pile of limbs on the grass next to him.

"S-sorry." Enya stumbled to her feet. She looked around in awe. "Wow."

It was beautiful. The castle was of pale marble and the towers reached into the clouds. The garden hedges were bizarre. There were drums and giant leafy teacups. In the center was a tall hedge castle of many colors.

"What do you guys think?" Sora grinned clasping is hands behind his head. Enya and Kairi could only and stare, Riku and Sora grinned. Sora watched his sister as she wandered the garden. He decided it was worth it to bring her along.

"Let's go find the King." Riku suggested striding towards the Castle gates. Sora, Kairi and Enya quickly followed him.

"I can't believe this." Kairi said as she walked along side Enya. The inside of the castle was just as beautiful as the outside. Carved pillars reached to the curved ceiling and large windows were spread along the tall walls.

"Yeah, and if you think you can't believe it –" Enya trailed off as she noticed that Sora had stopped in the middle of the hall. Riku had notice as well.

"C'mon Sora lets go." He called down the hall, Sora didn't move. Riku sighed and walked back, wrapping his knuckles on Sora's head. "Hey, what's up?"

"I just thought of something." Sora said looking confused. "The way we got here, that wasn't normal."

"What do you mean?" Enya said stepping forward.

"Well, usually the worlds had an object already there that forms the keyhole, this time Enya's daggers formed the keyhole."

"We already reopened the pathways." Riku said, folding his arms. "Maybe the daggers are a way to go down the pathways again."

Sora nodded "Maybe."

This made absolutely no sense to Enya. She had a million questions.

"So, who's this King you guys keep talking about?" Enya asked as they continued down the corridor. Sora seemed to refocus.

"You'll see." Sora said as they reached a giant doorway.

The huge lavender door was so large that everyone had to crane their necks all the way back just too see the golden doorknobs. Sora stepped forward and to everyone's amusement only a small corner opened for them. Apparently not everything was as it seemed here. Sora entered and the other three quickly followed.

The room was huge but was completely unadorned. There was nothing except a throne on a platform at the furthest end of the room and a few tapestries. However, what surprised Enya even more was what was sitting in the throne. She gripped Riku's arm as he passed by yanking him to a stop. He looked at her confused.

"What?" Riku asked, looking around.

"What is that, thing?" Enya asked tightening her grip on Riku's arm, "That…thing, in the chair."

Riku looked up at the throne and chuckled, "That's King Mickey."

"But – he's a mouse." She said confused. "A giant mouse!"

"Don't worry; you'll get use to it. Wait till you meet Donald and Goofy." Riku said walking the rest of the way down the hall.

Enya watched him go, and stayed where she was. Get use to a giant mouse, not likely. She shook her head and slouched down the aisle.

"_Wonder who Donald is?" _Enya thought as she continued to walk. _"And what's goofy?_ She noticed that the other three didn't seem at all perturbed by the giant rodent. On the contrary, they were all acting like they were old friends.

Mickey smiled at Sora, Riku, and Kairi warmly.

"Sora!" he exclaimed, standing and shaking Sora's hand.

"Thank goodness you're here. We need ya to –" King Mickey had finally noticed the fourth teenager. She gave him a crooked smile and a quick wave.

"Sora…" Mickey murmured. "Who's that?"

Sora turned to look at Enya. It accrued to him that Enya and the King had never actually met. "Oh, Your Majesty this is my sister Enya."

"Hiya." Enya said lamely.

Sora glared, and smacked Enya on the back of the head. Enya stumbled slightly from shock. Rubbing the back of her head Enya stared daggers at her little brother.

"W-what was that for?"

"Enya, show some respect. This is the King of Disney." Sora said nodding towards Mickey.

Enya glanced out of the corner of her eye at the mouse standing in front of the throne. She turned and gave a curt, sarcastic, curtsy.

"Your Majesty."

Instead of angering Mickey, Enya's actions made him chuckle. His smile grew and he strode forward to shake Enya's hand.

"Well, and friend (or relative) of Sora's is a friend of mine. It's nice to meet ya." Mickey said. Mickey turned back to Sora. "Donald and Goofy will be glad to see you again Sora."

At that precise moment Donald entered the room from a hidden side door. Donald squawked and did a double take when he saw Sora talking to the King. He ran forward.

"Sora!" Donald shouted running towards his friend eyes closed in glee. Unfortunately, Sora had neither heard, nor seen Donald and at that moment had taken a step forward. Donald zipped past Sora eyes still closed. Instead, his feathered arms wrapped themselves around Enya's thigh.

"Awww Sora." Donald said, squeezing the horrified girl's leg tighter.

Enya let out a shriek. "Ah! Get it off! Get it off!" She shook her leg furiously. Donald opened his eyes in surprise, but it was too late. Enya kicked out as hard as she could and dislodged Donald from her leg.

The poor duck flew across the room and smashed into the furthest wall. Donald let out a moan, as he slid down the wall, and flopped onto the floor.

Everyone scurried forward. Sora made it to his friend, he flipped Donald over. The ducks eyes rolled comically in their sockets. On the crown off his head a large bump began to protrude.

"Donald!" Sora shouted shaking his friend frantically. "Donald, are you okay?"

Donald's eyes stopped rolling and focused. "Sora, why are there two of you?"

He blinked several times, and the two Sora's blended into one. He stood shaking, wobbling slightly on his webbed feet.

"Are you alright Donald?" Kairi asked concerned as Donald stumbled around, trying to get his balance back.

"Uh-huh." He held his head, trying to make the world stop spinning. He realized that something was missing, he looked around. "Where's my hat."

Enya saw the pointed object a few feet away. She grabbed it and handed it to the giant duck.

"Here you are, sorry about that."

There was a loud creaking noise and everyone turned to see the main door open, a figure stood in the door way. Enya wasn't exactly sure what it was, it certainly was goofy looking. And that's exactly who it was.

"Sora! Riku, Kairi!" Goofy ran to then his armor clanking as he went. He scooped all three into a giant hug. "Grwash, its great ta see ya! Haw-yuc!"

Goofy and Donald we're introduced to Enya and vis-versa. Donald kept his distance from the tall girl. He was rather weary of her, or at least her boots.

Goofy and Donald had the same reaction as those in Radiant Gardens when they heard of Enya's relation to Sora.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi could tell that Enya was annoyed with the fact that Sora had never told anyone about her. Feeling guilty, Sora gripped her shoulder. Enya glanced down at him and he gave her a look that clearly said.

"_I'm sorry I never told them."_

She sighed and buried her hands deep into her pockets. Enya had a feeling that this was only going to get more and more complicated.

Mickey had returned to the throne once again. Donald and Goofy stood on either side of him, looking important.

"I'm glad you're here Sora." Mickey said his hands clasped together. "We have another problem; I think we made need the Keybearers help."

"What is it your Majesty?" Kairi asked. "Is it Organization XIII and the Heartless again?"

"No, well the Heartless are still a problem but that's not new. The Organization on the other hand, it's like they vanished without a trace."

"Don't worry your Majesty we took care of them." Sora said pounding fist with Riku. "They're gone for sure."

Mickey nodded slowly, lost in his own thoughts. He shook his head looking at the group again.

"That's true; anyways I almost wish it was the Organization." Mickey sighed.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked surprised.

"Well, if it was the Organization I'd at least know what we're up against. This is different."

"Different how," Sora asked curiously, "do you mean it's worse?" He couldn't really imagine something worse than Organization XIII.

Mickey merely shook his head. "Not really sure, ta be honest. Something has been going on for a while. Some really powerful darkness and we've sensed it growin' for a while. But, every time we think we've located it, it fades away. Whatever it is, it's smart enough to avoid being detected long enough for us to find out what it is."

He sighed, leaning back in the throne, his large ears drooping. "I wish we knew what it was. I need ya to help us. I need you five – six." Mickey corrected himself nodded at Enya. She grinned. "I need you to find out what this darkness is, and if it's a threat or not, after all I've been proven wrong about the darkness before."

This time Mickey glanced at Riku. Riku gave a quick nod of acknowledgment.

Oh, and check in on your friends in the other worlds, make sure everything's alright."Mickey looked at Sora. "You'll do it, right?"

Sora saluted. "Of course, your Majesty."

This would be a snap.

"Thanks Sora." Mickey gave a sigh of relief.

Enya had completely given up on following the conversation. Mickey smiled at her confused face. "You should stay here for a while, fill Enya in." Mickey pointed a gloved finger at the wall and a door appeared. Everyone bowed and the four friends went into the next room.

….

As they entered Sora spotted the three good fairies that had helped him before.

"Welcome dearies." Flora said warmly. "I see the King sent you here for a little attire fix up."She fluttered over to Sora circling him once and examining the state of his clothing.

"Sora, your clothing seems as powerful as before."

He nodded. Besides, Sora didn't want to go through that process again.

"So that leaves…" The fairies turned to Riku. He folded his arms and shook his head firmly.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm good." He didn't really care about the state of his clothes.

The three fairies looked rather disappointed but they turned to Kairi. She also shook her head. She would never admit it, but the clothes she wore reminded her of the island, she didn't want to give them up.

"Alright, but at least let us put a spell on your clothing so it will be more powerful." The two friends exchanged a look, than nodded. Each fairy waved their wand and Riku and Kairi's clothes glowed slightly.

"Now you will be able to transform into different magical forms, like Sora. Of course, this only works for keyblade bearers." Flora explained. "But wouldn't you like it if we changed your clothes, just a little bit?"

Again, both of them shook their heads. Flora sighed, but she gave a small gasp when she saw the state of Enya. There were more holes in her vest then material, and her shirt and skirt was splattered with mud and grime. She blushed slightly under their scrutiny.

"No arguing with us about **you,** deary." Merryweather shook her wand at Enya sternly, and the three fairies advanced on the girl. Enya backed away, slowly hands raised in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder at Sora.

"I thought they were the three good fairies?"

"They are." Sora said grinning at Enya.

"Then, why do they look like they are going to attack me?"

Fauna floated over to Enya and dragged her forward. The fairy began to circle Enya. "Oh, maybe a nice dress what do you think? Perhaps pale pink and maybe a couple of frills here?" Fauna asked, looking at her sisters. They nodded eagerly, but Enya shook her head furiously.

"No, no way." Enya said folding her arms across her chest. "I don't wear pink and I don't wear dresses, especially with frills." She glared at each fairy in turn, daring them to try it.

"Well you can't wear **that**." Flora said tapping her foot. Enya dropped her gaze, shuffling her feet and fingering a tattered necklace.

"Oh my, that necklace looks terribly old." Fauna said rolling up her green sleeves. "Don't worry; I'll make you a new one."

"No!" Enya shouted gripping the pendant firmly in her hand, backing away. "I don't care about the clothes, I could care less, just don't change this. It's – special to me."

The actual necklace wasn't anything elaborate. The chain was braided white and red strips of material. The pendant was a small piece of white shell, shaped like a teardrop.

"Well, alright." Merryweather said confused, blue wings fluttering.

Enya glanced over her shoulder at her friends. Her outburst had surprised them; Enya felt a wave of embarrassment. Sora and Kairi looked rather confused but it hadn't really bothered them. She looked at Riku. His eyes were wide with surprise.

….

Riku sat on the beach out of sight. He could see Sora and Kairi out on the dock as the sun began to set. He glowered down at them, for some reason it made him feel sick.

"Not spying again are you?" Riku jumped, he turned to see Enya standing behind him. Her arms were folded, looking down at him.

"I'm not spying on anyone." He muttered turning back to the beach. Pulling up his knees he rested his head on them. She sighed.

"If you say so…" She didn't believe Riku for one second, but there was no point in arguing. Enya sat on the soft sand next to him, watching the sun slowly descend. They didn't say anything for several minutes, just watched the waves crashing on the beach.

"You know, it was going to happen." Enya said still not looking at Riku. He stiffened slightly and didn't say anything.

She continued. "Sora and Kairi, I mean. Trust me, I know. I have to listen to Sora, how he talks about her. You've had to notice right? How he looks at her when he knows she's not looking."

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Riku. He still glared at the water. Enya sighed.

"You're only hurting yourself, Riku."

Riku stood and began to walk away, but Enya caught his arm.

"Riku, look, I didn't mean for it to come out like that, I'm sorry. It's just I know how you and Sora feel about Kairi, and I know how she feels about you and Sora. And – I don't want you to get hurt."

Riku slowly looked down at Enya. Her bright blue eyes stared up at him. He could tell that she didn't want to see him upset. He rolled his eyes, running a hand through his shaggy, silver hair.

"_Why were girls so emotional?"_

He sat down next to her again. The sun had completely set and the stars were coming out. Kairi and Sora were no longer on the dock.

"Here…" Riku said handing Enya a small parcel. "This is for you."

Enya took it slowly looking confused. "What's this for, my fourteenth birthday was four months ago, your either really early, or pretty late." She grinned.

He grinned back at her. "Fine, if you don't want it." He took the gift back and pulled his arm back, as if to throw it.

"I want it! I want it!" She grabbed the gift back. As she began to tear the paper, she asked. "So what is this for anyways?"

Riku merely shrugged watching her. "I found it a while ago, and figured you'd want it back."

Enya didn't understand what he meant by that. He was always a mystery. She tore the final end of the paper and a small necklace fell out.

"I remember this." She said holding the necklace up trying to see it in the dim light. The chain was woven red and white material with a small seashell dangling from the end. "You gave it to me for my fifth birthday. I was bummed because Sora got really sick that day and my parents forgot about my birthday. I thought I lost it."

"I found it in the cave a month back, thought you would want it back." Riku said gruffly. Enya smiled as she tied the braided chain around her neck. It was more of a loose choker than a necklace anymore.

"Thanks."

Riku only nodded in response. Enya rolled her eyes slightly and leaned back looking up at the sky. For some reason there seemed to be less stars than usual.

"Well, the rafts should be ready tomorrow. I can't wait to see what's out there."

"Yeah." Riku said looking up at the stars. "We leave early so get some rest. Tell Sora not to stay up daydreaming."

Enya grinned at him as she stood and dusted off. "Don't worry I'll tell him."

"See ya tomorrow."

But that night a storm came that would change their lives, and Enya would not see her friends or her brother for two long years.

….

Sora, Enya, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy all sat around a long table, covered in food. Everyone was eating while Sora tried to explain to Enya what happened to him and the others over the last two years.

It was incredibly confusing.

Sora had gone after Kairi and Riku when they had been separated by the darkness after the storm that had come to Destiny Island. Apparently Kairi was a princess, one of seven whose hearts could be used to open a place called, Kingdom Hearts.

Riku had been taken over by the darkness and had been controlled by a man called Ansem, who really a man named Xenahort, who was Ansem the Wise's apprentice's Heartless. After Sora had defeated Ansem/Xenahort, Riku and King Mickey had stayed in the realm of darkness to seal the door.

Sora explained about Organization XIII, they were a group of nobodies. How Sora had a Nobody named Roxas after he'd been turned into a Heartless, which was completely different from a Nobody.

Enya's mind reeled. She absentmindedly toyed with the edge of her shirt. Enya wore a rose red colored tank-top. A black corset was wrapped around her waist and black arm warmers went up almost to her elbows. Black pants and thigh high black boots completed her new look.

"You've certainly been busy." Enya said picking up an apple. She twirled it between her fingers, she wasn't hungry. She felt sick to her stomach. How had all of this happened while she'd been stuck on the island alone?

"We should decide where to head next." Riku said taking a bite out of a large peach. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"We need to make sure that all the other princesses are alright." Kairi piped up.

"Alright…" Sora agreed. "How about we check in on Alice first? We haven't seen her in a while."

Enya remembered Sora vaguely describing Wonderland. Giant mushrooms and bizarre other plants. And, something about a talking cat.

She shook her head. _"Cats don't talk."_ But as Enya glanced at Donald and Goofy, who were pilling food down their throats, she thought to herself. _"Well, ducks, dogs, and mice aren't supposed to talk either."_

"That's okay with everyone right?" Sora said looking at everyone. "We'll head for Wonderland first?"

"And after that?" Riku asked standing. Sora shrugged.

"We'll figure it out as we go along."

"Of course." Riku smirked, shaking his head. A bright light filled the room and Enya's daggers appeared again rising into the air to form a keyhole.

Sora stood quickly looking at Enya. "What did you do?"

Enya shook her head looking at the glowing daggers over her head. "I-I didn't do anything." She stammered.

Sora's keyblade appeared. Slowly raising it a beam of energy burst from the tip of the keyblade.

Mickey opened the door peering inside, "What's going on fellas?"

He looked surprised as Enya caught the falling blades and Sora lowered his keyblade.

"I sorry, Your Majesty." Sora walked over to the King. "We have to go."

"Alright," Mickey said shaking Sora's hand. He glanced over at Riku. "Keep an eye on everyone okay? Just check in on your friends, and see if you can figure this all out."

Riku and Sora nodded and walked over to stand next to Enya, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.

"Don't worry." Sora said to Enya and Kairi. "This landing should be a lot smoother." In a blinding flash of light they all disappeared.


	3. Wonderland

**I'll admit this isn't my favorite chapter that I've written so far, (I have several other chapters already written) but I use to love Alice in Wonderland as a kid, so it had to be done. It's a combination of the animated Alice in Wonderland and the recently made Tim Burton/Disney version. Thank you littlestorywriter for your review of my story, it's really appreciated! Enjoy!**

….

**CHAPTER 3: Wonderland**

Sora, Donald and Goofy bounced off the top of one of the giant mushrooms and flopped onto the grassy floor below. Kairi, Riku and Enya quickly slid down to help the others up. Kairi giggled and looked over to Riku and Enya as she helped Donald up.

"So much for smoother landings."

As the other chuckled Sora had started to get up and was on his hands and knees when something smacked him in the back. Face down in the dirt he could feel something hop across him.

He heard the creature cry. "I'm late! I'm late for a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late I'm late I'm late!"

"It's the white rabbit!" Donald squawked in surprise.

"And it's wearing a petticoat," Enya said slowly shaking her head slightly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" Sora tried to stand when he collapsed again. He felt a pair of feet dash over him once again.

"Mr. Rabbit! Oh. Mr. Rabbit, please wait!" A little girl with long blonde hair and a blue dress ran over Sora after the white rabbit. She didn't seem to notice the other teenagers standing around.

"That," Riku said pulling Sora up, "must be Alice."

Enya saw the little girl disappear into the tree line. "She's one of the princess' of heart right?" She walked over to dust Sora off, "So, what now?"

"Well," Goofy said looking at where Alice had vanished, "Alice seemed ta be in quite a hurry. Wonder why?"

"She's up ta somethin' that's for sure." Donald agreed.

"There's only one way to find out." Kairi said dashing towards the woods after Alice, purple-blue eyes dancing with excitment. "Come on!"

….

"I think she went this way?" Sora said pointing down one of the paths.

"No, she went that way." Kairi contradicted pointed in a completely different direction then Sora.

"Naw, Alice went that'a way." Goofy pointed in yet another direction. They began to bicker and squabble. Enya and Riku brought up the rear both shaking their heads.

"Just admit it," Enya said tucking a strand of long brown hair behind and ear away from her angled face. "We don't have a clue which way she went."

"Oh but I do." Another voice called out. The friends ceased their dispute and turned to see had spoken, but no one was there.

"What the –" Riku said squinting, as if it would make any difference.

"Now, if I was looking for somebody – yet did not know how to find them – isn't the logical thing to, to asked someone who knows where they are, where the person you're searching for is?" Out of nowhere a purple and pinked stripped cat appeared sprawled across a low branch.

"The Cheshire Cat, what does he want?" Sora said looking at the feline warily.

"As I was saying," the cat said lazily, standing on its back paws, "if I was looking for somebody – yet did not know how to find them – I'd asked someone who knows where they are, where the person you're searching for is? That's logic is it not?"

"I guess," Sora said looking slightly confused, "So, have you seen Alice?"

"No." The Cheshire cat's grin grew larger.

But you just said –" Enya said getting slightly annoyed. She glanced at Sora who just shrugged slightly.

"Don't waste your time sis; he's always saying weird, vague stuff like that. Let's just go back to looking for Alice on our own."

"However," The cat called as the friends began to walk down a random path, "If I had seen an Alice, I would think she went that way." That all turned to see his pointing a claw down a curving path. A wooden sign read,

_**Mad Hatter & March Hare **_

"So she went to see the Mad Hatter and the March Hare?" Kairi asked eagerly.

"Who?" The Cat asked.

"Alice!" Donald squawked, very irritated.

"What's an Alice?" Cheshire asked stretching.

"But you just said –" Enya retorted folding her arms across her chest.

"Can you stand on your head?" The cats head was looking at them, completely detached from its body and under his back paws. Riku ground his teeth, he hadn't said anything to this annoying cat, but it was really starting to bug him.

"Come on." He grabbed Kairi's and Enya's wrists dragging them down the path. Both looked like they were going to try to continue arguing. Sora grinned, and pushed Donald and Goofy down the path, quickly following Riku and the others.

….

"I have to admit," Enya said as they walked down the path, "I don't see why anyone would want to go to see someone called the _**Mad**_ Hatter?"

"That annoying Cat probably told her to go see him." Riku said his hands deep in his pockets. "He's probably messing with us."

"Hey guys," Sora said coming up to stand next to his sister, "is it just me or it getting really foggy – really, really fast?" It was true; a thick mist had formed all around them. As they continued to walk it only seemed to be getting thicker.

"I can't see a thing." Donald called out as it got to the point they could barely see their own feet let alone anything around them. "I think we should – OW!"

"Donald! You okay?" Sora shouted trying to feel his way to his friend.

The mist had lightened slightly and they could see that Donald had smacked into a gate. And the mist wasn't really mist but was steam, from thousands and thousands of teapots, teacups and teakettles spread across a very large table.

At the furthest end a large rabbit and an old man sat singing. "A very happy un-birthday to y-y-you…" The large rabbit spluttered to a halt when he saw the small group of strangers standing outside the gate.

"Now see here!" The old man called, glowering as he adjusted his oversized hat. "This is a private un-birthday party." Sora opened his mouth to ask what exactly a _**un**_-birthday party was, but thought better of it.

"Well, since you're here you might as well all sit down and join us in a cup of tea." The March Hare said, pouring tea into several of the many multi-colored cups.

"Indeed." The Mad Hatter agreed. He had apparently forgotten that the six strangers hadn't been invited. "Why don't you six and all your little friends sit and have a nice cup of tea." Sora blinked, surprised by what the Hatter had said. Friends, who else was here, he turned and saw Heartless crawling down trees and scurrying down the pathway.

"Guys!" Sora shouted quickly summoning his Keyblade.

Everyone turned and just as quickly summoned their weapons. Enya moved forward to position herself next to her brother, daggers drawn. Sora couldn't help a quick gibe.

"Think you can keep up?" He asked with a grin.

Enya let out a peel of laughter. "Can you?" She sprung forward. The others quickly followed.

Enya met a Heartless head on. She couldn't believe how strong they were. She leapt to the side as another Heartless attacked from behind; they obviously had enough intelligence to know how to plan an attack.

She sliced the daggers through one Heartless just to find another coming at her. This was nothing like fighting with Riku and Sora with their toy swords when they were younger, this was for real.

Riku and Kairi stood a little further off, slicing their own keyblades into the dark bodies of the Heartless.

Enya nearly stabbed Sora when a bolt of lightning hit a nearby Heartless making it disappear in a burst of light. Enya had leapt back in alarm only to see Donald standing a few feet away, a large pole raised in his feathered hand. _"So, the duck is a wizard, why not."_ Enya thought.

Finally only one Heartless remained, darting back and forth, its large yellow eyes staring unblinking at the teenagers. Sora took a flying leap, with a swipe of his arm, the keyblade sunk in. There was a flash, and the Heartless was gone.

When Enya saw the Heartless disappear, she knew something was wrong. Her heart felt compressed, like someone hand their hand clutched around her lungs, cutting off her airflow.

She gave a tiny gasp and turned away quickly when she saw Sora giving her a look of concern. She didn't want to worry him. She didn't understand, she hadn't done that much fighting so it couldn't be the problem, right?

Enya was facing the woods trying to catch her breath when she saw something, a shadow in the darkness. Clutching at her side Enya watched as it backed away slowly, and vanished into the blackness. As soon as it was gone so was the suffocating feeling. She took several deep breathes and looked around.

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare had been sitting at their party table acting like nothing had happened. Kairi, Riku and Sora were walking over to them once again. Enya ran forward to see what was going on.

"Um, have you seen Alice, she has long blonde hair and is wearing a blue dress, we think she came this way?" Sora asked.

"And what would make you think an Alice came this way?" The Hatter asked as he moved to a different chair.

"Well, you see, there was this cat…" Kairi said slowly.

"CAT! CAT!"

Out of nowhere a mouse popped out of one of the thousand teapots and began to run across the table, crashing into plates and cups, shattering the porcelain. The Hare and Hatter scrabbled onto the table, trying to catch the terrified rodent.

"Time to go." Riku said quickly as teapots and cups flew into the air. He started along a random path.

"Wait! We don't know what way Alice went?" Goofy called, as they walked along the path.

"We'll figure it out, I rather not stay here." Riku said as Sora, and the others caught up.

"Yeah, I don't really want to be around those crazies, their worse then you guys." Enya teased. Sora stuck his tongue out, Enya grinned.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Sora said in a spooky voice, wiggling his fingers, "we're all crazy here."

Riku snorted. "Speak for yourself."

….

They walked through the woods. It was getting darker with each step. Kairi stopped in the middle of the path.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, looking back over his shoulder. She shushed him, putting a finger to her mouth.

"Do you hear that?" There was definitely something, coming from further up ahead.

"We better find out what it is." Sora said quickening his pace. Everyone followed not wanting to be left behind.

As they continued down the path the sound became more audible. They entered a clearing with nothing but a large stone in the middle. A girl was weeping sitting on the large rock. Her back was turned to them, but they knew who it was.

"Alice." Sora exclaimed. Turning at the sound of her name, Alice looked at the six companions. Her blue eyes shone with more tears.

"Oh S-Sora." She said lips trembling, "What are y-you d-doing here?"

"We came to check up on you." Sora said entering the clearing properly, "Are you alright? What's the matter?"

Alice couldn't answer. She only shook her head and let out another sob, burying her face in a handkerchief. Kairi made her way over to the poor girl. She quickly sat next to Alice and draped an arm around the shaking girl. Sora walked forward, he crouched down near the rock.

"Alice…" Sora said slowly, not really sure what to do.

Then he heard the snapping of twigs outside the clearing. Whipping around Sora saw several strange creatures stepping out of the woods from all directions. They were all different shapes, and every single one was pale white. Enya, Riku, Donald, and Goofy who were closest to the woods hoisted their weapons, stepping back slowly.

"Whatta think they are?" Goofy said quietly. "They don't look like Heartless."

"Maybe their Nobodies." Donald said, staff raised over his head, ready to cast a spell. In truth they didn't look anything like Heartless, or Nobodies.

"They're chess pieces." Enya said bemused. "They're all, giant chess pieces."

"How do you know?" Sora said, looking over at his sister.

"Because, I use to play chess when I got bored," Enya saw Sora raise his eyebrows. "What? You've been gone for two years; you don't think I got bored once in a while?"

One of the giant chess pieces, a knight, stepped forward. "Please, allow us to help the girl."

Everyone stared at the knight; he seemed way too polite to be in cahoots with Heartless. Sora lowered his Keyblade slightly.

"What do you want with Alice?"

"Well," The knight said slowly taking another step forward, "The Queen –"

"THE QUEEN?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy shouted, each one of them raising their weapons high again.

Enya was confused, why were her friends suddenly so upset? What was so bad about this Queen?

"What's the big deal?" Riku asked, "Is she someone you guys don't like?"

"Oh, she's awful." Alice said fervently. She clutched onto the back of Sora's shirt. "Please Sora; don't let them take me to the Queen of Hearts!"

"The Queen of Hearts?" Another chess piece, this one a bishop, said quickly, "No, my dear girl, we would never take you to that horrible woman. No, we were asked to take you to the true queen, the White Queen."

"The – White Queen?" Sora said slowly. "So, the Queen of Hearts is…"

"A fraud." The Bishop said bluntly, his white marble face taking on a cold look. "She broke the laws of Wonderland and hostilely took the throne from her sister, the White Queen. But now, the White Queen believes that Alice, can help Wonderland."

Everyone turned to look at Alice who was still standing behind Sora. She looked confused and terrified.

"B-but what does she think I can do t-to help?" Alice said shaking slightly.

"We don't know," A third chess piece, another knight said, "but if you come with us, we'll take you to her and she can tell you herself."

The second knight held out a hand to Alice, smiling, even though he was made completely of marble. Alice looked at Sora for a moment, before slowly reaching out and taking the knights hand. She glanced over her shoulder at Sora again, and the others and the precession of chess pieces began to walk away.

"Um, excuse me." Alice said stopping to look up at the knight. He came to a stop, Alice gestured for him to lean down, and he did so. She whispered something to him, after a moment he nodded and straightened up.

"Alice requests that Sora and his friends come with her to meet the White Queen." The knight called. "If you wish to come along, you are more than welcome."

All six friends glanced at each other for several seconds. Then, nodding, Sora stepped forward followed by Enya, Riku, and Kairi, Donald and Goofy bringing up the rear.

"Lead the way." Sora said.

….

Sora and his friends walked alongside the chess pieces and Alice through the woods, till there was an opening. Stepping out they all saw a large white pavilion, covered in white roses. A beautiful woman sat on a small chair reading a book.

Her skin was pure white along with her long flowing hair. She wore a long white gown, in fact the only color she had were her eyes, which were a dark chocolate brown. Looking up from her book she saw Alice, Sora, and the others coming. She leapt to her feet to meet them.

"Alice!" She said running straight to the small blonde girl. "You've finally come."

She noticed Sora and the others. "My goodness, you aren't all Alice, I'm sure."

"No ma'am." Riku said bowing slightly; he kicked Sora's leg to get him to do likewise. "Sora is a friend of Alice's, and we wanted to make sure she was alright."

The White Queen's eyes widened slightly at the sound of Sora's name.

"Sora…" she said slowly walking up to him, staring down at him. "You're the Keyblade Master that my sister tried to have beheaded."

Sora nodded, confused as to why the White Queen seemed so interested in him.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" She asked quietly. She stepped to the side, so that no one could hear them. Sora followed. "My dear boy, I thought you were dead. I thought my sister had gotten a hold of you a year ago."

"Nope," Sora said pounding his chest with a fist, "still here. But your Majesty, what do you need Alice for."

The White Queen raised her eyes so that she could see past Sora to where Alice sat, talking to Enya, Riku, and Kairi. The White Queen let out a soft sigh.

"Alice, she holds a special secret of Wonderland." the White Queen said in hushed tones. "But she can't remember it. My sister, the Queen of Hearts, wants Alice dead, because she knows that it would end her reign on the throne. No one knows what it is, but Alice's memory is locked away."

"Do you know how to unlock the memory?" Sora asked. The White Queen merely shook her head.

"I'm afraid that the one, who knows how to unlock, Alice's memory, is the one who stole it in the first place. The one person who wants to see her…" The White Queen made a gesture of an axe across her throat.

"The Queen of Hearts." Sora groaned slightly. "What do you want us to do?"

"I would like you to accompany Alice to the Queen of Hearts, try to unlock Alice's memories." At that moment Kairi walked up with Alice in tow.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked looking between Sora and the White Queen.

The White Queen knelt down so that she and Alice were the same height. "Alice, the Queen of Hearts has stolen something very important – memory of yours. You need to get it back, so that you can save Wonderland, will you do it?"

Alice glanced at Kairi, and then at Sora, she turned around to look at Riku, Enya, Donald, and Goofy.

"Yes, I'll help you."

"There's only one problem." A familiar voice called. The Cheshire cat appeared on a large branch of a tree nearby. "I doubt you know how to get there."

"Oh, and you do?" Donald said angrily, tapping a foot.

"Of course, but there are many choices, some go that way," the Cheshire cat pointed a purple paw to the right, walking down the branch, "some go that way." The Cat turned and walked in the opposite direction.

"Great, so what way do we go?" Sora asked leaning against a pole of the pavilion.

"Well I personally prefer the shortcut." The Cheshire cat purred. Yanking and a branch he opened a doorway in the tree. The cat slowly disappeared till the only thing left was his smile was left. Then that too, vanished.

….

As they made their way through the maze that surrounded the Queen of Hearts Castle, they could hear the sound of voices coming closer. There was a break in the tall hedges.

Alice stood between Kairi and Riku, Enya right behind them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood in front of them blocking Alice from view. Enya could see over Donald's hat to a bizarre sight. A large woman sat behind a tall podium, and the white rabbit sat near her; and cards, giant cards where standing guard. Alice gripped Sora's arm.

"So, you painted my roses red," They heard the Queen say harshly, "well I say, off with their heads!" A cheer rose and two of the cards were dragged away.

"You can't be serious." Enya said appalled. They had come all this way to bring Alice to this crazy woman. Her voice drew the attention of the Queen. She turned hot eyes on Enya and on the others as well. She saw Alice.

"YOU," The Queen screeched pointing her scepter at Alice, "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

"Hey hold on!" Riku stepped forward, "What's she done?"

"She tried to steal my heart, a year ago, and she is the reason behind all those miserable Heartless. That's what she's done!"

"Do you have any proof?" Kairi asked quickly.

"Of course!" the Queen said smugly. The court fell silent the seconds ticking by.

"Well…" Donald asked, "What is it?"

"I am the Queen! I don't have to tell you anything. Now, OFF WITH HER –"

Enya had had enough. "Oh, just shut up." She snapped at the Queen, her hands on her hips.

The Queen stared at Enya horrorstruck. "H-how dare you!" The Queen spluttered. "I am the Queen of Hearts!"

"I don't care if you're the Queen of Clubs, Diamonds, or Spades!" Sora tried to hold Enya back, but she stepped out of his grasp. "Alice has nothing to do with the Heartless. You're the one who's the thief! You want to pick a fight, do it with someone your own size."

Sora leapt forward and slapped a hand over Enya's mouth. "Shut up Enya!" He hissed into her ear, "You're going to get us all killed!"

Sora had always known his sister to have a short temper, but she also couldn't handle someone suffering. Putting those two aspects together, Enya had always been one to throw herself in front of a problem and try to take it down on her own. Some people called it being noble, Sora just thought it was being stubborn, and stupid.

Enya pulled Sora's hand off her mouth, facing her brother. "Sora, relax I can handle this. We need to get Alice's memory back."

Sora doubted that. "Enya, those cards their –"

"Their what," Enya laughed, "going to give me a paper cut?"

She turned back, still grinning. That grin froze on her face when she came face to face with several cards, all holding spears inches away from her face.

"Oh." She said lamely.

The Queen hadn't moved, and looked like she'd been hit in the face.

"Um…" Enya said slowly, but it was too late.

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" The Queen screamed.

Enya was just able to duck out of the way before one of the cards swung its spear at her head. Sora blocked the whirring spear with his keyblade. Then there was a crack, and Heartless appeared, helping the cards form a ring around the same group.

"Oh-uh whatta we do now?" Goofy asked, his shield raised. "How are we gonna get Alice's memory back?"

"We'll have to worry about that later." Sora said quickly. "Donald, think you can make an exit?"

"No problem Sora." Donald said he raised his staff. "BLIZZARD!" There was a rumble and blue ice flashed from the sky freezing several cards and Heartless. Riku leapt forward smashing his keyblade into the ice statues; they shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Run!" Riku said grabbing Alice's wrist in one hand and defending himself with the keyblade in the other.

….

Riku was now running alongside Sora and Enya, who were fighting off any Heartless or giant cards that got to close. Kairi, Donald and Goofy were protecting Alice if an enemy slipped past the others.

As they ran they could hear the Queen ranting behind them, "You see, you see! The Heartless are following them! They're the leaders! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"

"Ah come on!" Enya puffed out exasperated. She blocked a blow from a card with one dagger and with the other jabbed at a Heartless. Enya noticed something, on the top of the Queens scepter, was a glowing crystal orb.

"What's the matter?" Sora said as he screeched to a stop.

"That orb…" Enya said staring at it as the Queen continued to advance on them, "I think I was right."

"What are you talking about?" Riku said, he'd come to a stop too. He grabbed Enya's collar, ready to drag her along. She yanked away from him, and started running back towards the Queen of Hearts.

"Enya!" Both Sora and Riku shouted after her, but she kept going.

"Goofy!" Enya grabbed his wrist, he stumbled along behind her. She came to a stop pulling Goofy to a stop as well. "Goofy, you see that orb on top of the Queen's scepter?"

Goofy squinted slightly. "Well, yeah." He continued to look at it for a moment then his eyes widened. "Hey, there's something in there, it kinda looks like… Alice." Sitting inside the orb was a smaller, sleeping Alice. "How'd you know that was there?"

"I saw it when she pointed the scepter at Alice." Enya huffed. "I think we found her memory."

"Right." Goofy pulled his arm back and flung his shield at the Queen of Hearts scepter. It whirled right into it knocking the orb off the top.

"NO!" The Queen screamed making a grab for the orb as it rolled towards Goofy and Enya. Enya ran forward scooping the small sphere up.

"Alice! This belongs to you!" Enya went to throw the orb but a card grabbed her ankle, she tumbled to the ground, the orb slipping from her fingers.

Sora saw the orb glinting in the dull light and dove for it, he grabbed it and ran towards Alice. Enya kicked the giant card in the face, making it let go. Goofy pulled her to her feet, and they kept running, putting distance between the seven friends and the Queen and her cards.

Alice, Donald, Riku, and Kairi stood a little ways back. Kairi and Riku getting rid of the last few Heartless when Sora, Enya, and Goofy came running up. Sora stretched his arm back and threw the orb to Alice. She reached out and caught it by the tips of her slim fingers.

There was a flash of light and the orb popped open, the swirling light surrounded Alice. Then it disappeared. Alice's eyes widened as she looked around.

"This isn't real." She murmured softly. "This world, all of it, it's all a dream."

She turned to stare at the Sora and the others. "And if this is my dream…"

Alice raised a hand and out of nowhere the door that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had once used to get into Wonderland appeared. "…I control what happens till I wake up."

Through the keyhole everyone could see another Alice, sleeping soundly. "This is what the White Queen meant, as long as I'm asleep, the Queen of Hearts is in control but if I wake up…"

Alice's voice trailed off as she knelt down so that she was eyelevel with the doorknob. "Alice wake up, please wake up!" She shouted through the keyhole. The sleeping Alice began to stir and the Alice in Wonderland began to fade away.

She turned to look at everyone, she smiled at everyone sadly. "I guess I'm waking up. Thank you, everyone, I won't forget you – ever."

"Same here." Sora said as Alice finally vanished.

Kairi moved to Sora's side looking worried. "You think she's home?"

Sora nodded and Kairi smiled at him, suddenly she felt the ground disappear beneath her. She screamed and started to fall into darkness, Sora leapt forward grabbing Kairi's wrist. Gritting his teeth he slowly pulled her out of the hole. Kairi clutched at Sora tightly, shaking.

As Riku and Enya ran forward they heard shouts from behind them, the ground had crumbled out from underneath several of the cards that had been chasing them.

Donald and Goofy were sprinting towards Sora and the others trying to outrun the growing chasm. Goofy leapt to safety, Donald followed but his feet barely made it to the edge. Donald wobbled nearly falling in, Enya reached out yanking him to safety.

"Thanks Enya," Donald sighed in relief, "I owe ya one." She smiled slightly.

"We'll call it even for me smacking you into that wall."

They watched as the gaping hole continued to grow, everyone quickly scrambled back losing ground. Suddenly, the darkness stopped spreading. Sora, Kairi, Riku, Enya, Donald and Goofy were on one side of the abyss, the Queen and her remaining cards were on the other.

Riku stepped near the edge, peering down into the blackness. The ground shook and out of the depths a huge black creature appeared. Red eyes flashed from deep sockets. Yellowed, pointed teeth barred in bloodlust, it's muscled, black body rippled with tension. It was easily two hundred feet tall.

"What is that thing?" Enya said backing away slightly.

"Well, if this world is made up of Alice's dreams…" Riku said slowly.

"…That must be her nightmare." Sora said, finishing Riku's sentence. "And it looks like it became a Heartless."

The creature turned demon eyes on the teenagers. Getting a better look at the creature it looks something like a lion, but its face was angled like a snake and it had large, sharp horns jutting from its skull. The monster lifted a clawed paw over their heads.

"Look out!" Goof y shouted. Everyone scattered, dodging the huge creatures attack. As Enya rolled out of the way she felt her leg slip, she leapt back again, this time trying to avoid another hole that had started to appear. She landed on her hands and knees. Not only would they have to avoid this nightmare, but the world around them crumbling away.

Sora ran up to his sister yanking her to her feet. Both quickly summoned their weapons. Riku was to Enya's right and Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were to Sora's left, each one waiting for the monster to attack again.

The Heartless nightmare roared and reared onto his back legs slamming down in front of the six friends. Kairi, leapt into the air to avoid being crushed. Landing on the creatures paw she leapt onto the creatures knee and then onto its back.

"Kairi!" Riku shouted. He quickly followed her up. Sora and the others were about to follow, but the nightmare swiped its huge claws at them, and each leapt back.

Slashing its grotesque head forward the monster snapped its teeth at Sora, trying to swallow him. Sora, bashed the Keyblade into the nightmares snout, leaving a gash. He flipped on its head; the lion reeled in pain Sora clung on tightly to one of its horns. Kairi and Riku nearly lost their grip as it whipped around slashing its tail at Donald, Goofy and Enya who were still on the ground. All three ducked out of the way of the spiked tail.

Donald raised his staff shouting, "Fire!" Flames leapt up on the creature's black flesh. It roared in protest, snarling and bucking.

Enya threw one of her daggers into its thigh as it continued to stomp and screech. As she raised her hand the dagger vanished from the demon's flesh and reappeared in Enya's hand, dripping green blood.

Sora, Kairi and Riku were still on the monsters back stabbing their Keyblades into the creatures back, but none of the wounds seemed to be causing enough damage to bring the monster down.

Kairi lost her balance as she tried to stab the creature with more force. As the Heartless nightmare shook its head she was dislodged from the monsters back. Tumbling towards the ground Kairi quickly flipped herself so that she landed on her feet.

Goofy pulled his arm back and whipped his shield into the air. Spinning, it gouged the legs of the horrific creature. Snarling, it swiped its talons again at Goofy with renewed bloodlust.

Luckily, Goofy's shield had boomeranged back to him. Catching it, Goofy had just enough time to get the shield in front of himself before one of the monsters paws smashed into him, propelling Goofy back twenty feet, and nearly into the still growing black.

"Goofy!" Sora shouted leaning over the creature's filthy he saw that Goofy was alright, Sora let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Sora noticed something.

The wounds that Goofy and Enya had made on the lion-like Heartless legs were still spurting green blood and seemed to be causing the most damage. Looking around below, he could see Enya was with Donald both slicing furiously at the snake-ish face of the monster. Kairi ran forward to help them. Goofy was stumbling to his feet, trying to catch his breath from the last blow.

Glancing over his shoulder Sora saw Riku hacking at the monsters neck, which seemed to be reinforced somehow, making his attacks blunted. Only thinking for a split second on a plan, Sora leapt from the nightmares back.

"_I hope this works."_ Sora thought.

The rush of the air whipped Sora's hair around his face. Gripping his keyblade tightly his called on the magic granted to him by the fairies. In a flash of gold light Sora gripped two keyblade. He lashed out at the monster's flank, and felt one of the blades sink into the creature's thigh. The demon roared in agony. The keyblade stuck into the creature's leg long enough for Sora to raise his other keyblade.

"Fire!" With that a burst of flames irrupted from his new keyblade and burned the skin away from the final undamaged leg of the Heartless nightmare.

The impact of the attack made Sora loose her grip on his first keyblade which was still stuck in the creature's leg. He dropped the other as he began spinning through the air. By the time he had stopped somersaulting he was only about ten feet off the ground. He arched his back and flipped himself over, landing feet first on the ground.

The monster staggered back and forth, the wound Sora had made on its legs ran from upper thigh to the knee. It moaned and crumpled under its own weight.

Riku was thrown from its back and sprawled on the ground. Enya ran to him, Riku sat up shaking his head; he had a small cut across his temple but other than that he seemed alright.

The lion-snake was swallowed by the darkness, plummeting down roaring all the way to the bottom. Everyone watched as the monster disappeared, there was distant crashing sound, and a heart came spiraling up from the blackness. Then, that too disappeared.

But what no one, but Enya, seemed to notice was the white mist that surrounded the heart. As that too disappeared, she felt her heart tighten, worse than it had in a very long time. Enya felt as if the wind had been ripped from her lungs. Sora grabbed her, holding her tightly.

"Get – us – out – of – here!" She gasped looking Sora in desperation. He quickly raised his blade and Enya threw her daggers in the air. They came together to form the keyhole, in a flash of light they disappeared from the decaying world.

….

Enya was sprawled on the ground. She felt the hard, cold ground beneath her and shivered slightly. Sitting up slowly, she glanced around trying to register where she was. After a few moments she realized that she was lying on smooth marble tile. They were all back in Disney Castel.

Enya heard moans coming from around her, turning around she saw Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy all spread across the marbled floor. Riku sat up slowly; seeing Enya was already up he stood, and walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked offering his hand. Enya nodded, Riku pulled her to her feet. Suddenly feeling extremely dizzy, Enya clutched her head trying to make the world stop spinning.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look awful."

"Gee, thanks." Enya grumbled as the world steadied itself. By this time Sora and the others had gotten to their feet. Sora came over to Enya, he looked scared for her.

"Enya…why does this keep happening?"

Enya looked back at her little brother, faking a calmness she didn't feel. "I-I don't know what you mean, all that happened was I lost my breath, it's happened before. No biggie."

Sora crossed his arms unconvinced, he knew his sister too well. "Look, I –" The door behind them opened, and Mickey poked his head in. Looking around, he smiled when he saw everyone standing around.

"Hey fellas, whacha doin'?" Sora turned to face the King.

"Sorry, your Majesty, we just had a little – trouble in Wonderland."

"Like what?" Mickey asked coming closer.

"Well, sir, Wonderland was nothing but Princess Alice's dreams." Kairi said slowly, "But she made it back to her true world before Wonderland disappeared."

Mickey's eyes widened in surprise, "Gosh, well – it must have been like the world that the Organization made – never real existed." Everyone shrugged, not much they could do about it now. Sora turned back to Enya.

"Okay En, when did this start happening." Enya smiled slightly at the use of her brother's nickname for her; with a sigh she started her story.

"It started the day you three disappeared."

….

Enya walked into her house after talking to Riku, the necklace he'd returned to her tied tightly around her neck. Shutting the door behind her, Enya glanced around the living room. The room smelled of her mother's cooking.

Stepping into the kitchen, Enya saw her mother at the stove and her father sitting at their small dining table.

The room itself was a descent size, but the clutter of many pots, pans and other random knickknacks had shrunk the room to about half its actual size. The pale yellow walls were barely visible behind the assortment of old photos and finger paintings Enya and Sora had made when they were younger.

Her father smiled at her. "En, there you are. Where've you been?" Sora and Enya both had their fathers blue eyes, but Sora was the only one who had inherited their father's sandy brown hair, minus the curl.

"Out, on the beach, with Riku." Enya didn't want to go into any more detail than that. Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Enya had decided not to tell their parents about their little adventure the four of them had planned for tomorrow. A pang of guilt shot through her, but she ignored it.

"I see…" Her mother said absently, looking around the counter. "Enya, have you seen the paopu spice." Her mother ran a hand through her dark brown hair, brown eyes sweeping the counter in desperation.

"Maybe Sora took it." Enya teased, glancing at her father. "You know what they say about the paopu fruit, maybe he thought about slipping some to Kairi." Her father lips twitched slighting.

"Enya, you really shouldn't tease Sora like that, especially when he's not here to fight back."

"But that's _**why**_ I do it when he's not here." Enya retorted still teasing. She flopped, onto the sofa staring out the window. "It looks like there's going to be a storm tonight."

"Found it!" Her mother called holding the tiny bottle up in triumph, stirring a little into the soup she was making. She called up at the ceiling, where Sora was. "Sora honey! Come on down, dinners ready!"

There was no response. Sora didn't come running down the stairs like usual.

"Sora?"

"I'll get him, Mom." Enya said jumping over the back of the couch. Jogging up the stairs she went down the hall to Sora's room. Rapping her knuckles on the door she called out.

"Hey Sora, c'mon I'm starving, and dinners ready." There was no answer. "Sora… You in there?" When he still didn't answer Enya pushed the door open, Sora's room was empty.

"Sora?" Enya stepped inside, glancing around seeing if Sora might be hiding in a corner trying to play some kind of prank.

She felt an icy wind on the back of her neck, turning around she saw that Sora's window was wide. Walking over, Enya stuck her head out glancing around, she couldn't Sora anywhere. Till she looked out near the ocean, there she could see Sora running towards where their rafts were.

"Sora!" Enya shouted the wind was picking up and thunder boomed. Jumping out the window she landed on the sandy hill below. Tumbling down the slope, Enya came to a halt spluttering.

Shaking the sand from her hair she glanced up when she heard a loud crashing noise. _"What is that thing?"_

Right over head there was a whirling vortex; it seemed as if the storm was coming from the center. Enya saw Riku, and Sora had joined him; both were on the highest hill, right next to the paopu tree. Riku seemed to be saying something, staring up at the whirling blackness.

"Sora, Riku!" Enya sprinted towards them, suddenly black shadows surrounded her, and glowing yellow eyes stared unblinking. One leapt at her, grabbing a stick on the ground Enya smacked the shadow right in the chest, sending it flying back. The branch kept them at bay but it didn't seem to be hurting them.

"_I've got to get to Sora."_ She thought as another shadow attacked, she trust the pointed branch right into the monsters chest, but all the shadow did was slide back as if nothing had happened.

"What are you?" Enya shouted. The wind began to pick up even more and a palm tree was uprooted, smashing down on top of several of the moving shadows, crushing them flat. _"Oh sure, the tree works." _Enya leapt over the fallen trunk running full out towards Sora and Riku.

When Enya made it to the top of the hill a black mist had surrounded Riku and Sora, dragging them in. Sora was reaching for Riku, but couldn't quite make it.

"NO!" Enya leapt towards them reaching out to yank them out of the darkness, but it was too late, they were gone. She toppled to the ground landing face first in the dust, the wind blowing around her, trees being torn away, buildings being shaken to their very foundations. None of it mattered, Sora and Riku were gone.

Suddenly it felt as if all the air in Enya's lungs had been turned to a hard block of ice. A cold hand gripped her heart and it felt as if the life was being sucked out of her. Black dots swirled around her, and then all went dark.

….

"I'd forgotten about seeing the Heartless." Enya mused looking at her feet. "It didn't really seem that important after, everything else." Looking up she saw everyone looking at each other, trying to figure it all out.

"Enya," Sora said slowly, "if this only happens when you fight the Heartless, maybe you shouldn't fight anymore." Kairi came to Enya's aid.

"Sora, she has to fight, if she doesn't Enya could get really hurt."

"Besides," Enya said elbowing Sora, "if I don't fight whose going to come save your butt when you get in trouble." Sora still looked worried, Enya leaned down slightly so that she and Sora where eye to eye.

"Look, I have to fight, and it's been getting better. Just relax okay, I can handle it." She smiled at her brother, and he slowly smiled back, with a nod he agreed.

"So, where next?" Riku asked coming to stand next to Sora. "Or are you still planning on winging it?" Sora sneered at Riku.

"How 'bout we head ta Agrabah?" Goofy suggested, "Jasmine's one of the princess' of heart, and I've been wonderin' if Iago kept his promise to Aladdin. Ya know – the one about pickin' sides, and turin' over a new leaf."

Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Agrabah sounds great."

"Hold on guys." Enya called as the other five got ready to leave. Turning back Enya knelled down in front on Mickey so they where about the same height. "Your Majesty, I wanted to apologize."

Mickey looked surprised, "For what?"

"For, how I acted before." Enya explained, "I was pretty rude to you, and I wanted to say, I'm sorry for that."

Mickey grinned up at Enya. "Aw, there's no reason to apologize, it must be hard to take this all in, huh?"

"Well, yeah – but that's no excuse, am I forgiven?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you, your Majesty." This time, Enya properly bowed to the king. Straightening up she continued. "I also wanted to thank you. You've been a good friend to my brother, I can tell, and you sent Goofy and Donald to help him, and protect him. I can never repay you for that."

"Enya, c'mon!" Donald called, tapping a foot. Grinning at Mickey one more time, Enya walked over to stand between Sora and Goofy. Mickey beckoned to Riku, who quickly strode over, bending low to hear the King.

"She's a good person Riku, but I gotta a feeling that she's more tangled in this then I thought." Riku looked over his shoulder where Enya stood with the others; she gave him an inquisitive look. Riku turned back to Mickey quickly. The King continued.

"Keep an eye on her for me, I know your both already close friends but she…" the King paused trying to think of the best words. "She might need ya the most right now."

"I don't understand." Riku replied confused. Mickey just shook his head.

"I dunno, just a feelin'." Mickey shrugged slightly, "Now go, help your friends."

Riku walked back to the others, Enya and Sora were already in position. Enya threw the daggers into the air, forming the keyhole; Sora directed the keyblade to the center. In a flash they were all gone.


	4. Agrabah King of Thieves

**I was originally going to have each chapter be a single world; problem is Agrabah turned out to be over a hundred pages long. Now, I don't know if there will be other chapters that will be that long, it's likely. So, what's going to happen is both parts will be considered a single chapter with two separate parts. As always, thank you, to my readers. None of this is possible without your support. As long as there's one person reading I'll keep writing. Enjoy!**

…**.**

**CHAPTER 4: Agrabah – The King of Thieves **

The sands of the Arabian Desert were blowing hard as a solitary figure climbed up the dunes. Agrabah was in sight, several camels made their way alongside the man as he continued towards the city. A cool smile spread underneath his mask as he fixed his eyes on the glittering palace.

"We're nearly there." He muttered to himself. "They won't even know what hit them."

….

Sora and his companions walked through the market place trying to avoid being squashed under a cart, or shoved into another traveler.

"Awful busy today fellas." Goofy said as he weaved through a group of running children. "Wonder what the occasion is?"

"No idea." Sora replied making sure not to knock into a cart. "But we should get to the palace; find out what Aladdin and Jasmine are up to."

They all started to make their way towards the palace but, the closer they got, the thicker the crowd seemed to become. They were soon blocked out by the sea of people.

"C'mon move! MOVE!" Donald shouted, shoving the crowd. Nothing worked; all the people were so tightly packed together there wasn't an inch of space.

"How do we get in?" Riku asked, even though he was the tallest among them he couldn't see over all the people and animals.

"No problem amigos!" A voice called out, all six friends looked around bemused. The voice had come out of nowhere. "So you came to see the wedding huh, Sora?"

"Wedding – what wedding?" Sora asked looking around, "Wait – Genie is that you?"

"You got it kid." In a plume of smoke a giant blue genie appeared.

"Sora! Donald, Goofy!" Genie exclaimed swooping down embracing all three in a giant bear hug. "Aw, I knew you guys wouldn't miss Al's big day. Hey, and look! You brought friends! Well, the more the merrier."

Genie dropped down examining the three other teenagers with large eyes.

"So this must be, Riku." Genie ruffled Riku's long, silver hair. "And this, pretty little lady, must be Kairi." He said kissing Enya's hand.

"That's my sister." Sora said with a laugh.

Genie's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he looked between Enya and Sora.

"Kairi's your sister!" Genie looked shocked. "Sora, the way you talked about her I thought that you two were more… doesn't matter nothing a long dose of therapy can't fix."

There was a stunned moment of silence, and then Enya burst into a fit of laughter.

"N-no I'm Enya, Sora's sister, that's K-Kairi." Enya pointed a shaking finger at Kairi still laughing. "You thought that me and Sora w-were…" But the rest of her sentence was inaudible over her giggling. Everyone else had started laughing too. Sora turned bright red, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"So – um – Genie Aladdin and Jasmine are getting married?" Sora asked, trying to change the topic quickly.

"Wow, Aladdin must be happy." Donald said still smiling.

"Oh yeah." Genie replied. "Actually, I'm looking for Al."

"You mean he's not at the palace with Jasmine?" Kairi said surprised.

"Wonder where he could be?" Goofy said looking around at all the people heading toward the palace, "Kinda hard to find him in a crowd like this."

Enya was looking around as well, only half listening to the conversation. But, something caught her eye and she spoke up.

"Aladdin – is he taller, probably six feet with tanned skin. Brown eyes and black hair, walks around with a monkey."

Sora was surprised, he had vaguely described all of his new friends but he hadn't gone into a ton of detail about their appearance.

"How do you know?" Sora asked looking around at the people; none really matched Aladdin's description, or at least none of them were walking around with monkeys.

Enya pointed a slender finger behind Sora, over his head. Turning around and glancing up, Sora and the others saw Aladdin sitting in a window. He looked confused and nervous.

"We better get up there." Riku said walking towards the door to the building.

….

Aladdin turned away from the window. With a sigh he continued fingering a package in his hand, tossing it back and forth. Aladdin brought it closer to his face and blew some of the dust off the wrappings. Aladdin just started to untie the parcel when he heard someone coming up the stairs. He glanced up and a huge grin spread across his face.

"Sora!" He exclaimed with a start. "You're here!" Aladdin stepped forward putting his hands on Sora's shoulders, still smiling.

"Yeah, we're all here." Sora stepped aside to reveal his companions.

"Donald! Goofy!" Aladdin's grin spread even wider. "So this must be Riku and Kairi, you all found each other. But, who's this – she looks kinda like you Sora."

"This is Enya, my sister." Sora explained. He started to feels a bit uncomfortable, had he told no one about his sister?

Aladdin strode over and shook the three newcomer's hands.

"Aladdin," Sora said after everyone had been greeted, "shouldn't you be at the palace with Jasmine? You're getting married today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am." Aladdin sighed. "But I needed to get this first."

He picked up the parcel he'd been holding before. He finished un-wrapping it.

"A dagger?" Riku said bemused looking at the small sword that fell out into Aladdin's hand.

"My mother gave this to me before she died, it belonged to my father."

"Your father, you never said a word about your father." Genie said floating over to Aladdin's side. "Well, I'll have to get him a seat and place at the reception! Why didn't you tell me sooner? It's going to upset the whole seating plan!"

"Because, he died a long time ago."

"Sorry." Sora said sadly, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder. He couldn't imagine growing up without a father; he realized how much he missed his own parents.

"It's alright Sora; I don't even really remember him. My mother said he wanted me to have this for my wedding day."

"I'm sure he's very proud of you Aladdin." Kairi said. Aladdin gave a somber smile.

"I just wish I'd known him better, maybe if I did, I'd feel ready for this."

"I'm sure you'll be fine – everyone gets cold feet on days like this." Enya piped up.

"How would you know?" Riku asked looking at her out the corner of his eye. Enya gave him an exasperated look.

"It's not that." Aladdin interjected. "It's just – I've always been on my own." Suddenly Abu, the monkey, landed on Al's shoulder tapping a paw, screeching and jabbering.

"Well, I've been on my own except for Abu." Aladdin corrected, scratching Abu on the head. "I'm taking a big step today."

"You'll be fine Aladdin, you love Jasmine right?" Donald asked.

"Of course, I can't imagine my life without her, but I don't anything about families."

"Al, little buddy, if your father were here I bet he'd be as proud of you as I am." Genie said wrapping his arms around his friend's shoulders. Aladdin smiled and nodded.

Suddenly, a little red and blue parrot flew through the window. He flapped around and landed on Sora's spiky haired head.

"C'mon Al!" the parrot squawked. "We can't have a weddin' without the groom."

"Hey Iago." Goofy said looking at the parrot. "How've ya been?"

"Fantastic! I've reformed completely. Now I'm living at the palace, helping with the weddin'…sorting all those presents."

Sora glanced up trying to see the bird nesting in his hair. "Oh yeah, and how expensive are all these presents?"

A gleam flashed in Iago's eyes and he rubbed his wings together. "Very."

Sora shook his head, dislodging the parrot from his head.

"Hey!" Iago squawked highly annoyed, he flew over and landed on Riku's shoulder instead. "Well enough with your mushy bonding, you need to get to the palace." With that Iago soared out the window.

"For once the bird's right." Genie said. "We'd better go."

Aladdin nodded but turned to Sora first. "Sora, I want you, Donald and Goofy, to be in my wedding."

"Us?" All three exclaimed in unison.

"Sora, you three helped me save Jasmine – more than once; I want to thank you for that. Besides, we're pals and I need some best men."

The three friends smiled and nodded eagerly. Aladdin turned to the window and let out a piercing whistle. Suddenly a flying carpet soared up to the window stopping just outside.

"Wow." Riku, Kairi and Enya said looking at the rug, suspended in midair.

"Well c'mon Al." Genie called as he jumped into the air floating next to Carpet as everyone squeezed on. "You're finally getting married."

….

The hooded figure led the camels, and their cargo, through the huge wooden gates and into the stables. He stared up at the golden turrets.

Behind him, one of the baskets began to shake, golden claws ripped through the wicker, tearing it to shreds. Stepping over the remains of his hideout, a tall muscular man rested a gray hand on his accomplishes shoulder.

"I'm growing impatient Cassim. Where's this ultimate treasure that you promised us?"

The hooded man brushed the gray man's hand off his shoulder. "Just a little longer Sa'luk, I promise you, it will all be worth it."

Sa'luk raised his fist, the golden claws around his knuckles glistening menacingly. "It better be – if this is another one of your idiotic schemes – you'll answer to me."

Cassim turned his back to Sa'luk unconcerned.

"The oracle is here – this time I'm sure." Cassim stepped out of the stable walking towards the palace. Sa'luk followed him, looking greatly angered by Cassim's cool domineer.

"Sa'luk, you and the other will distract the guards; I'll go into the palace and grab our prize. This wedding of the princess is the perfect distraction for me to get inside unnoticed."

"All part of your plan?" Sa'luk asked still glowering.

Cassim gave a bark of laughter, adjusting his mask, making sure it was secure over his face. "Oh yes. A large part."

….

Aladdin stood under the pavilion. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were to his right. Riku, Kairi and Enya stood next to Carpet and Abu in the sea of people. The pavilion was elaborately decorated from top to bottom with flowers and candles. Genie was floating near Aladdin looking around with a gleam in his eye.

"I think it all came together pretty well if I do say so myself." Genie stated looking at the pavilion with pride. That explained a lot. Aladdin grimaced over his shoulder at Sora.

"We kinda put Genie in charge of the wedding and he – well he was just being Genie."

"Just think about Jasmine." Sora whispered back to Aladdin. At the sound of Jasmine's name Aladdin's whole face brightened, he looked happier than Sora had ever seen him.

At the far end of the room there was a large arch, two giant peacocks stood in front of it, their magnificent tail feathers spread wide. At that moment however, they folded their feathers down to reveal Jasmine standing there.

"Wow." Aladdin said letting out his breath in awe. Jasmine looked beautiful, holding a bouquet of white flowers, her long white dress flowing around her.

"So that's Jasmine." Riku whispered as she passed by the friends on her way to the altar. Enya elbowed him good-naturedly.

"Hey, don't get any ideas. She's getting married."

Riku glanced over to Enya, ready to glare down at her, but to his surprise he didn't really have to look down as far as he use to. She was only a couple inches shorter than him now, she'd changed so much. She glanced at him, smiling.

"What?"

"Nothing, be quite we're at a wedding." Riku muttered. Several people shushed him and Enya and Kairi both fought hard to keep a straight face.

Jasmine was nearly to Aladdin, he was already stretching his hand out to her, when suddenly the entire pavilion shook, making everyone stumbled into each other.

"Whoa!" Sora said catching his balance. "What was that?"

He looked around and let out a groan. "Not now."

Aladdin and the other looked at where Sora was staring, and their hearts sank. A dozen Neo-shadows and Large Bodies came storming through the wedding smashing as they went. What was worse, men followed them their faces masked, all carrying weapons of some sort.

"You're kidding me!" Enya shouted as she ran up to Sora. "There's TYPES of Heartless. More than those shadow things."

"Yeah. A lot more." Sora summoned his keyblade. Enya summoned her daggers getting ready, keeping her eyes on the massacre in front of them, she asked.

"Anything I should know about these ones?"

"Yeah – tall black ones – really fast," Riku said standing next to Sora, "and don't attack the fat ones from the front."

"Why not?"At that moment one of the guards ran forward, sword raised, he slammed into one of the Large Bodies. He was thrown half way across the pavilion; Kairi who was running towards her friends, hit the floor to avoid being taken out.

Enya's eyes widened. "Got it."

"Riku and I will take care of the Heartless." Sora said. "You four get the men."

"Sure you get all the fun." Kairi quipped.

Enya grinned at Donald and Goofy who stood slightly behind Sora. "C'mon boys, let's round them up."

Kairi, Enya, Donald and Goofy ran towards the masked men. Riku and Sora started to head towards where the Heartless were, but Aladdin grabbed Sora's arm.

"Sora, I wanna help."

"Al, stay with Jasmine. Keep her safe, we'll handle this."

Sora ran after Riku who had already entered the brawl. The Heartless and men had taken the advantage of surprise, several of the guards had been knocked out, and the other guards were being forced back.

"Out of the way!" Riku shouted as he hacked at several Heartless. Sora joined in and the Neo-shadows converged on them leaping side to side.

As Enya, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy ran to help the guards, they could see that these men were no match for these thieves.

"Who are these guys?" Goofy asked as the blocked an attack.

"Their demons," A guard panted, "worse than demons, they're the forty thieves!"

"Forty huh, that makes it ten each." Donald said as he lashed out at one of the men. He was forced to retreat however when one of the guards got in his way. Donald glared up at him.

"You guys get the guests outta here! These men are robbin' them blind."

It was true. As the thieves attacked, they stole the jewels and anything else valuable off the guest.

Kairi held her keyblade tight as a shorter man lunged at her. He sliced his arms down at her, Kairi quickly raised her keyblade. Sliding to the side Kairi bashed the man on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. She grimaced at Goofy.

"That's one for me."

Suddenly one of the other thieves threw daggers towards Kairi. It happened so fast she didn't have time to block them. They sliced into the side of her clothing pinning her to the wall.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted, running to help his friend he was blocked by several Large Bodies. He leapt through the air trying to defeat the Heartless and get to Kairi at the same time.

"I'll help her." Enya shouted to Sora. She was sprinting towards Kairi when she too, was blocked, but by a tall gray man. Kairi kicked out at her attacker knocking out several of his teeth. Enya was having more trouble. The gray man (Sa'luk) raised his fist gold claws gleaming; he lashed out at her, knocking one of her daggers from her hand.

Enya dove to the side, rolling she landed on her feet next to Kairi, who was still pinned to the wall. Enya quickly grabbed one of the daggers pinning her friend's arm to the wall. She threw it at Sa'luk, who lazily knocked it aside.

"Um, Kairi," Enya said re-summoning her own daggers, "you – ah – think you can handle yourself why I take care of this guy?"

Kairi nodded; yanking the other daggers out of her clothing she quickly rejoined the rest of the fight. Enya turned back to Sa'luk, just in time to block the golden claws around his fist. Sa'luk shoved Enya back making her stumble. Quickly taking advantage of Enya's weakness, Sa'luk attack, Enya gasped in pain as the claws pierced her skin.

"Come now little girl, you have to do better than that." Sa'luk sneered.

Enya pushed herself to her feet, charging forward and smashing Sa'luk in the middle of the chest toppling him to the ground. He rolled over crushing Enya under his weight. Bending her knees Enya kicked out, propelling Sa'luk off her. Sa'luk stumbled back, clutching his chest, he quickly ran out of the pavilion.

The battle continued Riku and Sora easily taking out the Heartless. Enya paled, waiting for the usual pain in her chest. It didn't come, nothing more than a slight twinge. With a sigh of relief Enya turned to see that Donald and Goofy had piled the men they'd beaten in a corner.

"That's 36…37…38." He looked up at Goofy who stood right next to him. "Hey, I thought those guards said they were the _**forty **_thieves."

"Uh, maybe ya miscounted." Goofy suggested. Donald put his hands on his hip, looking annoyed.

"I didn't miscount! There are thirty-eight men here, not forty."

"Well one of them is that big gray guy." Enya grimaced she walked over to where Donald and Goofy stood clutching her arm. Riku and Sora ran up to them. Sora saw Enya's arm and quickly moved over to her.

"What happened?" He asked looking at her arm, Enya shrugged his hand off.

"Nothing, it's just a cut. What's really important, is finding out where this last guy is."

Aladdin stood next to Jasmine, holding her tight. It had taken all his willpower not to go and help Sora and the others. He heard what Donald and the others had said. He looked around, a moving shadow catching his eye. It was heading towards a side room.

"Forty." He whispered heading towards where he'd seen the figure disappear.

The hooded figures eyes gleamed as he saw all the treasures stacked in the room, but he was after one particular item, this time. He quickly scanned the many glittering tables, roughly shoving things aside.

"Where is it?" Cassim growled. He began to turn away when something caught his eye. Quickly moving a golden statuette to the side Cassim saw what he wanted. A small staff with a large blue gem on top was lying on the table. Cassim reached out for it.

Suddenly Aladdin appeared out of nowhere slamming into him, knocking Cassim to the floor.

"I don't think you were invited?" Aladdin said snatching the staff up. Cassim's eyes narrowed to slits, as he slowly stood.

"I'd give that back to me boy, if I were you."

"Not a chance."

Cassim lunged at Aladdin; he made a grab for the staff. Cassim's move shoved Aladdin back, crashing into one of the present laden table. Aladdin grunted trying to break free.

"Hey!" Sora burst through the entryway. The distraction gave Aladdin just enough time to get a firm grip on the staff, and shove Cassim away.

Cassim looked as if he would try to take on both Aladdin and Sora when Riku, Donald, Goofy, Enya, and Kairi appeared in the doorway weapons raised. Uttering a curse under his breath, Cassim pulled a small, pitch black, marble from inside his cloak.

"This isn't over boy." With that Cassim threw the marble to the ground. It shattered emitting a black, heavy fog. Everyone began to chough and gag, trying to blindly find a way out.

"Hey, who turned off the lights?" Genie's voice came from the inky blackness. Suddenly the fog was gone, as if it had been sucked away. Genie stood in the middle of the small group, looking around confused.

"What? I disappear for two seconds to make sure the dinner's cookin' and the wedding gets attacked."

"Pretty much." Riku said looking around.

Jasmine came running into the room, seeing Aladdin she quickly went over to him. "Aladdin, the thieves their gone! I don't know what happened, it went black – and then, they weren't there anymore."

Sora saw the staff the thief had been after under a table, Aladdin had dropped it during the blackout, and it had rolled away. He quickly scooped it up examining its golden surface.

"This is what that guy was after?" Sora asked looking over his shoulder at Aladdin; he nodded, still holding Jasmine tight. Sora walked over to Aladdin holding the staff out. "It doesn't look that fancy compared to all the other gifts. Wonder what the big deal was?

Suddenly the jewel on top burst into light, it floated out of Sora's hand to float in the middle of the group. From the top a smoky figure unfolded to reveal a woman in a long white robe. Everything about her was pure white; even her eyes had no color.

"Whoa!" Everyone said in awe as the ghost-like figure floated above them.

"You have summoned me from the oracle. What is your question? For I know all that is was, and will be. But know this; I can only answer one question for each person." Her voice echoed off the walls.

Everyone turned to look at Aladdin. He glanced wildly back.

"What?"

"Aladdin, you should be the one to ask." Jasmine said looking up at him. "I know our future is to be together, but I also know how you feel about your past. Ask about what happened back then."

Aladdin stared at Jasmine for a long time but then hung his head. "I can't. I don't know if I want to know what happened to my father. If I ask one thing, I'll just want to know more."

"Yes, all of which can be answered by your father." The oracle chimed in a monotone voice. Aladdin's head whipped up, everyone else stared at each other in shocked amazement.

"My father's alive?"

….

"No."

"C'mon Enya-"

"Not a chance."

"Please En, it's the only way."

"Well, okay."

"Really?"

"NO!" Enya put her hands on her hips glaring at Sora.

This argument had been going on for several minutes now, and no one had budged. Aladdin had decided to go and look for his father. The Oracle had told him that his father was trapped among the forty thieves. This had launched everyone into wanting to go and help. Sora had other plans.

"Enya stop being stubborn and just listen." Sora tried to reason, but Enya cut him off again.

"I'm not letting you two," She jabbed a finger at Sora and Riku, "a rug, and a talking pigeon, follow a band of blood thirsty murders, and stay behind."

"I'm going too." Aladdin interjected, Enya gave him a look that said "_small comfort." _

"Give me one good reason Kairi and I can't come too! ONE!"

Sora moaned. "H_ad En always been this thick headed?"_

He glanced at Riku who merely shrugged.

"I'll give you three!" Sora said.

"One, your both hurt." He put up a finger.

"Two, we can't all fit on Carpet. That's why Donald and Goofy aren't coming either. And three, your … condition." Sora put up his other two fingers looking smug, Enya's look got darker.

"That's low. This cut is nothing." Enya showed her arm where Sa'luk had gotten hold of her. It wasn't awful.

"Yeah, and don't call these wounds." Kairi chimed in looking equally annoyed. She pointed to the tiny cuts on her arm from where the daggers had made contact with her skin. "And we wouldn't take up that much room on Carpet; it didn't matter when we came to the palace. We all squeezed on."

"Yeah, but that was for less than a mile, we have no idea how long we'd be flying to find Aladdin's father!"

"Well, we could find a way around that." Kairi murmured, her resolve bending slightly. Enya wasn't giving up so easily.

"As for my _"condition"_ nothing happened last time."

This made Sora stop dead in his tracks; he looked at his sister in shock. "What do you mean nothing happened?"

"I mean exactly what I said, nothing happened, no shortage of breath – and you were fighting what, fifty, Heartless?"

"Fifty-two."

"Yeah, well close enough."

Riku had been watching Sora and Enya bickering closely; he smiled slightly at how much it reminded him of how things use to be back on the island. Just like back on the island, he knew he would have to be the peacemaker between these two.

"Okay that's enough." Riku said calmly. Both siblings looked up as Riku strode over to them, his hands deep in his pockets. He focused his gaze on Enya. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Enya stood still for a minute, Riku put his arm on her shoulder, gently leading her aside. Enya glanced back at Sora, giving him a look that said _"I'm not finished arguing with you yet."_ Sora stuck his tongue out.

When Riku thought they were a decent distance from the others he let go of Enya's shoulder. He turned to look at her, Enya smirked at him. She was one of the few that wasn't intimidated by him. It was both a comfort and an annoyance.

"Enya, you've got to admit Sora's got a point."

She made a noise that sounded a lot like _Hmpf_. But she didn't say anything so Riku continued. "It's just as important that you stay here, as it is us leaving to help Aladdin."

Enya only looked at him.

"Think about it En, whose going to protect the palace while Aladdin, is away? You, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy need to make sure everything here is okay. You saw those guards, they're useless."

The corner of Enya's lip twitched slightly and she sighed, "This sounds a lot like when we were little. You and Sora would run off to have fun and Kairi and I got stuck _"being the lookouts."_"

Riku smiled back and put his hands on either of Enya's shoulder. "We really need you to stay here."

Enya rolled her eyes, giving in, "Fine, I'll stay, but if you guys aren't back in three days I'm coming after you." She started to walk away but she turned back to look at Riku, long brown hair fanning around her.

"I mean it Riku; I'll come after you guys and trust me. You – don't – want – that.

….

Sora, Riku, and Aladdin were all cramped onto the magic carpet, soaring over dunes and palm trees. Iago was perched on Riku's shoulder sulking.

"Why'd I have to come?" Iago murmured. "I could have stayed and help with the weddin' or something."

"You want to complain to someone, save it for Genie; he's the one who sent you with us." Sora said over his shoulder.

"Why!"

"To sum it up he said – I don't want that bird anywhere near this pavilion. Get rid of him."

Iago continued to sulk as they companions flew along. Aladdin had his eyes trained on the ground following hoof prints, the only sign that anyone had passed through the sandy plains. Soon the sun began to set, making it harder and harder to see the hoof prints.

"I can't see any more guys." Aladdin sighed. "We're goin' have to land and follow them by foot."

"I don't think that's going to be our problem." Riku interjected pointing ahead.

Just a few yards away they could see a group of horsemen galloping around a large stone. Aladdin yanked Carpet to a halt. Everyone quickly dismounted.

"You know what – I'll stay here and uh – stand guard." Iago said fluttering off Riku's shoulder.

"No way." Aladdin said yanking Iago off of Carpet. "C'mon."

Sora, Riku, and Aladdin quietly made their way to the side of the large boulders they'd seen the forty thieves go around. Leaning around the edge to see what was going on, they could see the thieves, all mounted on horses on the shoreline of the sea.

"What are they doing?" Sora whispered watching the riders, "They can't go any farther. Why are they just standing there?"

"I don't know," Riku replied keeping his eyes trained on the thieves, "but I have a feeling they came to this spot on purpose."

"Why, there's nothing here." Aladdin interjected, keeping his voice low enough that the men couldn't hear them. "Their trapped here, we could take them on now, make them tell us where my father is."

"I don't think so Al." Sora said looking up at Aladdin. "When Kairi and Enya fought these guys they had Goofy and Donald. There were more of them, and they had magic."

"Besides, even if the three of us defeated all of them, I don't think they wouldn't tell us anything." Riku muttered.

"Well we can't just stay here!" Aladdin quipped getting annoyed.

Sora and Riku looked at each other. They knew Aladdin was right, but they also knew that they needed to find out where Aladdin's father was, and get him out without being seen. That meant finding, and sneaking into the forty thieves' hideout, if they ever found it.

At that moment, one of the thieves rode forward. It was the thief that had fought with Aladdin over the oracle. They all recognized the deep blue cloak he wore. Riding his horse to the edge of the seashore he sat in the saddle for a moment. He seemed to be staring at a large sea boulder; it was easily a hundred yards out. Sora, Riku and Aladdin watched as the man raised his hand, the cloaked figures eyes still locked on the stone outcrop.

"Open Sesame!" Cassim shouted, his voice echoing over the icy waters. Suddenly the water started to boil and the stone cracked right down the middle. Stones cracked off falling into the boiling water, forming a pathway to the shore. Kicking his horse into a gallop Cassim lead the way across the stony pathway, his men close on his heels. As soon as the men were across the doorway started to close.

"Let's go!" Aladdin shouted. Rushing back to Carpet everyone leapt on. Speeding across the waterway they barely made it inside before the doorway slammed closed. Unfortunately, one of Carpet's tassels got caught in between the two stones. Yanking to a stop Sora, Riku, and Aladdin were thrown to the ground.

Sitting up slowly, Sora rubbed his throbbing head. Seeing Carpet trying to tug itself free and failing, he quickly stood and ran over. Sora could see that the only way they were going to get him out would be to open the doorway again.

"Open Se –" Sora began to shout but Riku clamped his hand over his friends mouth.

"Sora you can't, they'll hear us!" Riku whispered hoarsely. Sora reached up and pulled Riku's hand off his mouth. He glanced at Carpet, and then back at Riku, and nodded. Aladdin stood a few feet away looking anxious.

"We can't just leave Carpet here, what if someone sees him." Aladdin felt something sharp and cold press into back. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw one of the forty thieves behind him, him sword was at Aladdin's back.

Another thief had grabbed Iago. Two more were advancing on Sora and Riku. Both summoned their weapons, getting ready to fight when the blue cloaked figure strode forward, his arms crossed.

"If you want your friends to live, I highly recommend that you lower your weapons, and surrender."

Sora and Riku glanced back and forth, neither of them saw anyway of escaping while getting everyone out alive. Both dropped their weapons, in a flash of light they disappeared.

"Very good, now we'll let you go if –" Cassim started to say but Sa'luk stepped forward, his teeth bared.

"We won't let them go." Sa'luk growled looking at the trespassers, "They've all seen too much. . . Take them."

….

Kairi entered the throne room to see Enya lying on a stake of pillows in the middle of the room. She was staring up at the ceiling her mouth moving but no words seemed to be coming out.

"Enya," Kairi asked cautiously coming closer, "are you okay?"

"Do you know how many ceiling tiles are in this room?" Enya asked glassy eyed.

"Um."

"437," Enya said stilling looking up at the ceiling, "Technically 363 whole tiles and 74 half tiles. Do you know… how I know this?"

"Ah," Kairi said slowly.

"Because I've counted all of them – FIVE TIMES – This morning!" Enya sat up looking at Kairi in desperation. "Kairi, I can't take this, I need to know what's going on."

Kairi knelt down next to her friend; she put her hand on Enya's shoulder.

"Enya it's only been two days, I'm sure their fine. They'll be back soon enough."

Enya didn't move for a minute and when she spoke, her voice was very quiet, "It's like waiting for you three to come home again."

Kairi had no response. Glancing around for a distraction, something out of the corner of her eye caught Kairi's attention. A flash of gold, Kairi raised her hand, just in time to catch the flying golden plate that came whizzing by.

Both of the girls stared at the shining disk in Kairi's hand. The sound of something slicing through the air caught Enya's attention she deftly caught a statuette that came flying in their direction.

"Donald! You better not be going through the wedding gifts, those are for Aladdin and Jasmine." Enya shouted towards the side room. Before Sora had left he had warned Enya and Kairi about Donald's addiction to shiny and expensive items.

"What makes you think it's me?" Donald said as he entered the throne room, from the completely different direction.

Kairi and Enya looked at Donald, then at each other, at the side room and then back at Donald.

"Goofy?" Kairi called starting to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, "is that you?"

"Nope, I'm right here." Goofy poked his head around the door that Donald stood in front of. "I've been making sure Jasmine's okay, she's been kinda blue, what with Aladdin gone and all."

"We'll if it's not you two, than who . . ." Kairi said slowly looking back at the side room. Enya was one step ahead of her. She'd already summoned her daggers and was slowly creeping towards the room where the treasures were stored. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy quickly summoned their own weapons, close on her heels.

Enya peered into the room and her eyes widened in horror. A dozen Heartless were in the room smashing the gifts, climbing the walls, and jumping off the balcony to reach other floors.

"Looks like Riku was right." Enya said looking at the others.

"About what?" Goofy asked looking inquisitive.

"Those guards are useless." With that all, four burst into the room.

….

Sora, Riku, and Aladdin had been lead into a large chamber where the rest of the forty thieves stood around. They were shoved roughly into the middle of the room. Iago was tied up so he couldn't fly away and laid sprawled on a table. The others weren't fairing any better.

"They've seen too much, they're intruders, and we have rules about intruders." Sa'luk shouted at Cassim who stood near another wooden table.

"We also have the laws that I created, we never kill the innocent." Cassim's face was still masked but his eyes stared out from the inky blackness, shining with authority.

"I'm still the King of Thieves, and my word is law."

Sa'luk raised his fist, "I'm growing tired of all your pathetic laws, Cassim."

Sora saw Aladdin's eyes grow wide in shock, and heard him suck in his breath.

"I'd like to see you try to stop me from letting these boys go." Cassim crossed his arms smirking at Sa'luk .

"Just watch me!" Sa'luk lashed out at Cassim, ready to strike him down. Aladdin broke free of his captures and rushed forward tackling Sa'luk before he could do anymore then tear Cassim's mask off.

"Aladdin!" Sora and Riku shouted in unison, struggling to break free, their guards tighten their grip. Cassim stared at Sora and Riku and then turned stunned eyes on Aladdin, who was struggling against Sa'luk. Cassim grabbed Sa'luk by the back of his shirt yanking him off of Aladdin, propelling him over the wooden table that stood nearby.

"Aladdin?" Cassim asked staring down at the man on the ground in front of him. "Is that really your name? Don't lie to me!"

Aladdin nodded looking at the man who stood in front of him shaking. Cassim knelt down to get a better look at Aladdin in the dim light.

"My son." Cassim whispered.

The room fell silent everyone absorbing what had been said. Sora glanced between the two men on the ground. They did look incredibly similar. Both had jet black hair, although Cassim's was streaked with gray. Both men had dark brown eyes and tanned skin, the same jaw and build. There was no doubt that Cassim was Aladdin's father.

"Don't care if he is your son!" Sa'luk shouted dislodging himself from the table he'd smashed into. "I don't care where they came from, all I know is…"

Sa'luk paused, mid-rant; he'd noticed Sora, more importantly Sora's eyes. He marched over and studied the boy's face. A wicked smile spread across his face, yellowed teeth flashing in the dull light.

"You know what boy, when we raided the palace I fought a girl who looked a lot like you." His smile grew colder, "If I remember correctly I got a pretty good slice out of her."

The other thieves began to chuckle. Riku had heard what Sa'luk said and he could feel his blood begin to boil. This man had been the one who had attacked Enya. He began to struggle but he was too late. Sora had already broken free of his captors and summoned his keyblade, he lashed out at Sa'luk.

"You're the one who hurt my sister!" Sora charged forward. Sa'luk blocked him, shoving him back.

"Sora!" Riku broke free. Grabbing Sora he spun his friend out of the way. Rebuffing Sa'luk's attack with his keyblade, Riku forced Sa'luk back. Riku slashed his keyblade through the air so fast no one truly saw it.

"That's enough." Cassim grabbed Sa'luk shoulder. Sa'luk felt his cheek; a thin gash ran from the side of his forehead to the end of his chin. Sa'luk turned burning eyes on Riku and Sora.

"I will kill you!" Sa'luk spat. Aladdin went to stand next to his friends. Glaring at Sa'luk, Aladdin turned to look at Sora. Sora's look was dark, as if all he wanted in life was to destroy Sa'luk.

"Alright Sa'luk, what do we need to do to get out of here." Aladdin's voice was strangely cold and distant.

"I say the boys face the challenge." Cassim said clapping his hands together. All heads turned to look at him, except Al who avoided looking at his father.

"Oh yeah, and what exactly is this challenge?" Riku asked his keyblade still pointing at Sa'luk, a little blood dripping off its pointed tip.

"Simple enough," Cassim said still looking at his son, "one of you fights one of my men, and if you win you can leave."

"And if your men win?" Sora asked through gritted teeth.

"Well…just don't think about that at the moment." Cassim said running his finger along the edge of his collar. "So – which one of you boys are going to fight one of my men."

Sora stepped forward but Aladdin strode in front of him.

"I will."

"Excellent," Sa'luk growled, "and I shall be the one to test you – boy."

"Aladdin, wait!" Sora said grabbing his arm. "You can't fight him, what about Jasmine."

"I have too, that's my father – even if he is the king of thieves." Aladdin turned to Cassim, "When will the challenge happen?"

"NOW!" Aladdin turned just in time to leap out of the way as Sa'luk attacked.

Aladdin rolled to the side, quickly drawing his dagger from his belt. Sa'luk made another swipe at him but Aladdin was able to block it, he kicked his foot out, knocking Sa'luk off his feet. Aladdin stood and made his way over to Sa'luk. Sa'luk's eyes were closed and a thin trail of blood came from the side of his head.

"I – I think he's dead." Aladdin said stunned looking around.

But that wasn't the case. Sa'luk's eyes shot open and he leapt for Aladdin, sinking his clawed fist into Aladdin's shoulder. Aladdin gasped in pain, clutching his shoulder, blood streaming down in ruby rivulets down his arm.

"You're finished boy!" Sa'luk bellowed.

"No!" Cassim gasped trying to get to Aladdin. As Sa'luk brought his clawed fist down Sora and Riku barreled forward. Riku blocked Sa'luk's attack while Sora hit him square in the chest sending Sa'luk head over heels.

As Riku stood over Aladdin, shielding him from harm, he saw a man in a blood red cloak step forward. He seemed out of place among the grubby thieves. The figure clicked his fingers and stepped back, disappearing into the shadows. As soon as he had clicked his fingers several Heartless appeared circling: Sora, Riku, Aladdin and Sa'luk.

"Aladdin, you think you can defend yourself?" Riku asked, trying to see a weak spot.

"Yeah." Aladdin grunted, getting shakily to his feet.

Riku and Sora turned back to Sa'luk. The Heartless didn't seem interested in harming Sa'luk, in fact they seemed to be backing him up, and he realized it.

"Destroy them!" Sa'luk shouted pointing as Sora, Riku and Aladdin. The Heartless leapt at the three companions, while Sa'luk ran in the opposite direction, up a flight of rickety stairs, and out the door.

Sora and Riku made their way through the Heartless fairly quickly but Aladdin wasn't fairing as well. His arm was throwing him off balance. Several, times Riku or Sora had to come to his aid. The wound on his arm was giving Aladdin a lot of trouble.

Sora crushed the last Heartless with a lash of his Keyblade. Aladdin panted, falling to one knee. Sora went to go to his aid, but Cassim made it to his son first.

"The challenge isn't over yet, you or Sa'luk must die, those are the rules – I'll take care of Aladdin – you two go."

Riku and Sora nodded both running up the stairs after Sa'luk. The doorway open up into a cliff over the raging ocean below.

Sa'luk stood near the edge trying to look for a way out, hearing the footsteps coming behind him however Sa'luk wheeled around yellowed teethed bared.

Sora and Riku got in position, knees bent, ready to spring forward as soon as Sa'luk attacked. Bellowing with rage Sa'luk charged forward, clawed fist raised, dripping with Aladdin's blood. The sight of the blood sparked a fury in Sora, making his own blood boil in hatred.

Sora bounded forward, Riku quickly followed. Sa'luk seemed suddenly a lot stronger than before; he lashed out with renewed hatred. Sora tried to strike a blow at Sa'luk, but the huge grey man punched Sora right in the middle of the chest, sending him skidding towards the edge of the cliff.

Riku saw what happened to Sora, he tried to get to his friend, in order to help him but Sa'luk kicked out at Riku. Catching him under the chin and knocking Riku flat on his back. Sa'luk advanced on Sora who had gotten to his knees, bent over gasping for air.

Riku sat up dazed slightly by the blow, seeing Sora's situation however he quickly snapped back into focus. He knew he wouldn't be able to get over to Sora in time. Glancing around wildly Riku saw his own keyblade laying a foot away. Quickly scooping it up Riku shouted.

"Sora! Catch!"

Sora glanced up, and deftly caught Riku's keyblade. In a flash, both keyblade's were crossed in an X over their wielder's head, and Sa'luk's blow stopped cold at their junction. Sora quickly stood, twisting his body around flipping Sa'luk over his back. Sora hadn't realized exactly how close he and Sa'luk were to the edge, Sa'luk landed on his feet but he was unbalanced and toppled over the edge of the cliff.

Sora stared in horror at the edge of the cliff where Sa'luk had disappeared. Riku came over to stand next to his friend, peering over the edge he sighed, and took his keyblade back from Sora.

"Come on, we better go back."

As Sora and Riku reentered the main room to see all the thieves looking up at them, weapons and teeth bared. Riku and Sora quickly hoisted their own weapons glancing around.

"I thought we only had to fight Sa'luk?" Sora muttered, glancing at Riku. Riku set his jaw in a firm grimace.

"I guess there really isn't any honor among thieves."

Out of the crowd below Cassim immerged crossing his arms and glaring up at the two friends.

"Seeing as you're still breathing I assume that Sa'luk is dead." Sora and Riku didn't answer immediately Cassim began to climb the stairs to the two companions. "Speak quickly."

"Yeah," Riku said grimacing, "Yeah, he's dead. Sa'luk fell over the side of the cliff."

The group of men below began to mummer loudly amongst themselves; Cassim raised a hand, silencing them immediately.

"Very well," Cassim turned his back to Riku and Sora looking down at his men, "bring them." With that the thieves swarmed up the stairs grabbing, and binding Sora and Riku.

"What are you doing?" Sora shouted as he was pushed roughly down the stairs, "I thought if we won, you'd let us go?"

None of the thieves answered as they shoved Riku and Sora into a small room and slammed the door, locking it tight.

"Sora, Riku!" Both glanced up to see Aladdin sitting on a small bench, his arm bound in bandages. He stood and made his way over to Sora and Riku unbinding their hands.

"Thanks," Riku said rubbing his wrists. "There's definitely no honor among thieves."

Aladdin grimaced in acknowledgment and unbound Sora who scrambled to his feet looking around the room. "So what do we do now?" Sora asked the others. Aladdin and Riku glanced at each other, not sure what to do.

"Even if we do get out of this room, we'd have to go against thirty-nine armed men." Aladdin said rubbing his arm; obviously his wound would make it difficult for him to fight.

"I don't think that will be necessary." A voice called from behind them, all three turned around to see Cassim standing in the doorway. He gave them all a quick smile before striding to the other side of the room.

"My men want me to slit all your throats." Cassim said calmly as he pulled out a small pendant from his pocket. "After all, you did just kill one of our greatest fighters."

"So why don't you?" Aladdin said coldly.

Cassim glanced over his shoulder; his face was filled with mixed emotions. "Because, you're my son, Aladdin." Cassim said simply, he turned back to the wall pressing the pendant into an impression in the wall. With a grating sound the wall slid to the side to reveal a secret passage.

"Come, quickly." Cassim said striding into the darkness. After glancing at each other Aladdin, Sora and Riku followed Cassim into the abyss. They walked down a long stair case cut out of the stone. Reaching into another pocket Cassim produced Iago; his feathered ruffled and still bound, but alive.

"I assumed you'd want your, pet back." Cassim mused, handing Aladdin the little bird. Aladdin glanced at his father but didn't respond. He pulled out his dagger and cut Iago's bonds. The bird rotated his beak then stood on the palm of Aladdin's hand glaring at Cassim.

"What's the big idea shoving me into a pocket I outta punch you in the nose Zorro!" Iago squawked, hoping back and forth on Aladdin's hand. His tiny, feathered fist raised.

"I apologize to you for the rough treatment," Cassim said bowing slightly, "but you must admit, if I looked soft in front my men they would have killed us all."

"Looked like they were going to kill us anyways." Riku said his voice full of contempt. Cassim glanced at his then nodded slowly.

"Yes, that's true but you're safe now. This is truly a blessed day. You are all safe, I lose my greatest threat, and my son has returned to me."

"I'm not the one who left." Aladdin seethed, he came to a halt on the stairs, "You're the one who abandoned us, remember?"

"I know, but I left because I wanted what was best for our family." Cassim said turning to look imploringly at Aladdin. Aladdin still looked furious.

"You think leaving your family for twenty years was what was best?" Aladdin was nearly shouting at this point. "You thought that abandoning your five year son and your wife was what was best?"

"YES!" Cassim shouted. The cove fell silent. Sora and Riku stood a little ways back, not sure what to do. This wasn't their battle. Cassim shoulders sagged slightly and his sighed. He leaned again the cave and began his story.

"Many years ago, I heard stories of an ultimate treasure, one that would even put all the treasure of Agrabah to shame. I knew that if I found that treasure, our family could live in the splendor and comfort I knew you and Tama, my wife, deserved." Cassim sighed again pressing the tips of his fingers over his eyes, bring back painful memories.

"I promised that I would return as soon as I could. I'd return with all the wealth we would ever need. Days – became weeks. Weeks – became months, then years and I never found the treasure. I tried, and tried, but I never came close."

"Later I heard that my wife, Tama, was dead and that my son – my son – had disappeared." Aladdin only stared at Cassim, whose voice had become ragged with oppressed emotion.

"After that the treasure became my obsession, I joined a group of men who were also in pursuit of the treasure. So the Forty Thieves began, we looked and looked till we found this place."

Cassim glanced around and sighed. Standing upright he continued down the stairs. Aladdin, Sora, and Riku followed. Cassim continued his story as he descended down the stairway.

"We found this cavern, and it became our hiding place, then while I was wondering on my own I found this passageway, and I found this." Cassim grabbed a glowing torch that was on the wall, and walked down the last few stairs. At the end of the stairway was a small cliff. Standing near the brink, Cassim held the torch high so all of them could see what was in the inky waters below.

Aladdin, Sora, and Riku stepped cautiously near the edge and glanced down. All of them stared in utter shock. Beneath the still water was a ship made from gold, not a single surface of the ship wasn't coated in what appeared to be pure gold.

"At one time or another, the treasure was here, and it caused this." Cassim pointed down at the sparkling ship.

"What kind of treasure could do that?" Sora asked quietly.

"The big one boy," Cassim said looking at Sora out of the corner of his eye, "the Hand of Midas."

"That's just a myth." Aladdin scoffed walking away from the edge. Cassim followed him looking annoyed.

"Did that ship look like a myth to you?" Cassim said grabbing Aladdin's good shoulder. "The stories are true! The Hand of Midas, a magical treasure that turns anything it touches to pure gold."

Aladdin stepped back making Cassim release his grip. "Yeah well, even if it is real why would you want it? I don't know if you noticed but that ship may be gold, but you're precious treasure sunk it!"

"I wouldn't be foolish enough to use it on a ship!" Cassim said started to get angry. "The only reason I wanted the treasure was for you, Aladdin, YOU!"

"You want to know what I wanted?" Aladdin said stepping forward again. He looked like he was about to shout but he relaxed and instead looked at his feet. "I wanted a father."

Aladdin glanced up at Cassim. "I still do." With that Aladdin turned and started to climb the stairs again leaving Cassim, Sora, and Riku at the bottom of the stairs. Aladdin stopped half a dozen steps up and looked at his father.

"Look, my wedding is in a few days, I want you there." Aladdin smiled slightly, "This time you have an invitation, so no need for gate crashing." With that Aladdin continued to climb the stairs, disappearing from sight.

Cassim watched him go and then sighed running a hand through his graying hair. He looked at Riku and Sora and smiled.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness. You two must be tired after your battle, you should rest."

"Actually," Sora said walking up to Cassim, "I want to know more about this Hand of Midas."

Riku nodded in agreement and Cassim looked at the two boys then with a jerk of his head, lead them to the other side of the cliff. At the end there was a piece of material that hung over an opening, shoving it aside Cassim led Riku and Sora inside.

The room was covered with drawings in strange looking runes and was dully lit. At the far end of the long room there was a stone table, draped across it was a tapestry that must have, at one point, hung on one of the walls.

Cassim walked up to it and pointed. "This is where the hand is supposed to be, on an island that is never in the same place twice."

"Well, that's problematic." Riku said leaning over the tapestry to get a better look.

The tapestry showed a large island with a vast city. In one corner the island was shown surrounded by jungle life, in another corner the island was near what looked like a glacier. Sora pointed to this part of tapestry.

"Never in the same place." He muttered, looking at the rest of the cloth.

The Bottom was covered in what looked like a vast amount of treasure, statues and coins all a glittering gold even on the cloth.

"The ultimate treasure." Sora ran his finger along the glittering thread. Then what was right in the middle if the tapestry caught his eye. Riku saw it as well and they exchanged a shocked look.

Right in the middle was a golden hand, and on either side of it was what looked like two halves of a keyhole. Riku stepped away from the table and leaned against the wall, eyes closed. _"It can never be simple, can it?"_ he thought grimly.

Iago flapped into the room and landed on the table, his eyes gleamed when he saw all the treasure displayed on the tapestry. Sora walked over to Riku.

"You know what those symbols on either side of the Hand look like, right?"

Riku nodded slowly, eyes still closed. "A keyhole." Riku opened his teal eyes slowly and glanced at Cassim and Iago who were still bent over the table. "We have to find the keyhole; it's what we're supposed to do as Keybearers."

Sora nodded in agreement, "But how are we suppose to find it? Cassim's been looking for twenty years and never found it. No one would know. . ." Sora's voice trailed off as a new thought accorded to him. Turing Sora quickly strode over to Cassim.

"There's a reason you were at the palace wasn't there?" Sora asked. "There was a reason that you were after the oracle?"

Cassim looked surprised, but nodded. "Well, yes. I had hoped that it would lead me to the Vanishing Isle, but it's probably another dead end."

Sora nodded then ran towards the door; he skidded to a halt and looked back at Cassim.

"You know, you really should come to Aladdin's wedding. I can tell he really does want you there." With that Sora ran out the door and up the stairs. Riku watched him go then straightened, and made his way out as well. Cassim rubbed the back of his neck and turned back to look at the tapestry.

"I can't go back to Agrabah; I don't belong at the palace. I don't see how it could work."

"But the oracle does right?" Iago said slyly, hoping onto Cassim's shoulder, "While it's in the palace, no one would even use it, kinda a waste, if you ask me."

Cassim grimaced and made his way towards the door. "The oracle," He growled slightly, "it's probably nothing but another dead end."

"Oh yeah, then how do you think those boys found ya here? The oracle led 'em here, and I bet it could lead ya to all that treasure."

By this time Cassim had started to climb the stairs, Riku wasn't that far ahead of them. Sora and Aladdin were nowhere to be seen. Iago continued in hushed tones.

"Cassim, we are talking about the marriage of your only son – this is a once in a life time opportunity." Iago rubbed his wings together in glee. He then flapped his wings to hover in front of Cassim's face.

"How could I pass it up?" Cassim said rubbing his chin, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"Hey –you two comin'?" Riku called out, stopping to glance over his shoulder at the others that lagged behind.

"Oh yes, coming." Cassim said straightening and walking to the exit. As Cassim walked past, Riku kept his eyes on Iago. As the bird flew by, Riku quickly plucked him from the air.

"HEY! What the –" Iago squawked in surprise.

"Okay birdie, what are you planning?" Riku said coolly poking Iago in the middle of his feathered chest.

"Nothing!" Iago said rubbing his chest and looking hurt, "I am offended that you would think such things! Why, I've completely reformed."

With that Iago flew off, Riku watched him go.

"Yeah –I bet you have." With that he followed everyone out into the small room they'd been in before. Riku saw Cassim talking to Aladdin, and Sora standing nearby.

Seeing Riku come in Sora gave him a grin and mouthed to him. _"He's coming!" _Sora pointed a thumb over to Cassim who was still speaking to Aladdin. Riku only nodded slightly.

Cassim grinned and walked towards the exiting door. Once out, they quickly snuck past the thieves and to the doors. Releasing Carpet all five quickly mounted and sped back towards Agrabah.


	5. Agrabah The Vanishing Isle

**CHAPTER 4: Agrabah – The Vanishing Isle**

When they landed back at the palace everyone could see that Genie had done wonders on fixing the palace up. The only problem was that there was no one around.

"Where is everybody?" Sora said looking around. "I thought that Enya and Kairi would be waiting for us."

At that moment the door burst open, and Enya came skidding out. She looked around wildly.

"Speak of the devil." Sora said grinning. He stepped forward his arms wide. "Enya!"

She turned to look at him, her eyes wide. Then she summoned both daggers, crossing her arms she whipped them at Sora.

"Hey!" Sora shouted but the daggers had made contact – with the Heartless that had leapt from the balcony above him. Enya summoned the two daggers back before they could hit Sora.

"Sorry about that." Enya huffed, releasing her grip the daggers disappeared. "The Heartless have been coming out of nowhere and everywhere since you guys left."

Enya smiled at them. She quickly made her way over to Sora, hugging him tight.

"I'm glad you're back, Sora."

"Glad to be back."

Enya went over to Riku, hugging him as well. He jumped slightly in surprise but then returned the hug, a little embarrassed. When they broke apart Enya gave him a crooked grin and punched him on the shoulder.

"Cutting it a bit close there aren't you." She teased. "I said three days, and you get here in two days and twenty-three hours."

"Well, we're here aren't we?" Riku said ruffling Enya's hair. Enya was about to make a retort when they all heard a shout from above.

"Sora! Riku!" Everyone glanced up to see Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all standing on the balcony above. Each was waving frantically, a wide grin across all their faces. Kairi saw Enya was with the others, leaning over the railing she called down.

"Enya, did you get that last Heartless?"

Enya gave the thumbs up and Kairi nodded.

"Okay we'll be down in a second!" All three disappeared from view. Sora returned his gaze to Enya.

"So, the Heartless have been acting up?"

"Oh yeah, in a major way," Enya put her hands on her hips glancing back up at the balcony. "They've been mostly in the palace, going after the treasure – the stuff in the throne room, side chamber mostly – it got so bad that we moved everything to the main treasury. That last one nearly got past us."

By this time Kairi, Donald, and Goofy had made it to the entrance room.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi said making a beeline for Sora. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. It was very sweet – at least it was, till Donald and Goofy barreled into the embracing friends, and knocked them over.

"Oops, sorry!" Goofy chuckled as he scrambled to feet. "Guess we probably should a slowed down huh?"

"I blame you, you big palooka!" Donald said dusting himself off as he stood.

Sora and Kairi were still on the ground. Kairi was on top of Sora shaking her head, slightly dizzy from the impact.

"You okay Sora?" She asked glancing down at him. Sora was a deep shade of red and he quickly mumbled.

"Ah – y-yeah, sure," He coughed slightly, "never better."

Enya elbowed Riku and nodded slightly at Sora, whose face was still bright red. The two friends snickered quietly at Sora's predicament till they took pity on him. Enya went and helped Kairi up. Riku offered his hand to Sora who gratefully took it; Riku hosted Sora to his feet.

"So, did ya find Al's dad?" Goofy asked looking around. "Was he with the forty thieves?"

Cassim finally stepped out from behind Aladdin, his blue cape up, he chuckled.

"More than you know."

"AHHH!" Goofy, Donald, Enya, and Kairi shouted on shock. They all recognized the cloak from when the forty thieves had attacked. In unison all four leapt forward, tackling Cassim.

"I got him!" Enya shouted summoning one of her daggers. She pressed it to Cassim's throat as Goofy and Donald held him down. Kairi stood over Cassim, her keyblade summoned; she pointed it at his chest threatening.

"Sora, you go and get the guards, we'll hold him." Kairi said.

Riku yanked Enya off of Cassim, Sora pulled Kairi away, and Aladdin plucked Donald and Goofy off as well, holding them back.

"Hey, what's goin' on here!" Donald squawked, struggling in Aladdin's firm grip.

"Yeah, He's a bad guy!" Goofy said looking confused.

"He's the leader of the forty thieves," Kairi shouted looking at Sora, "He's –"

"He's my dad." Aladdin said calmly. Donald, Goofy, Enya, and Kairi stopped struggling all looked flabbergasted.

"He's what?" Enya said sounding astounded.

"Yeah, we were as surprised as you are." Riku chuckled, loosening his grip on Enya. Aladdin and Sora followed suit. Enya gave a fleeting look at Aladdin then at Cassim. One could definitely tell that they were related.

"So, what are you going to tell Jasmine?" Kairi inquired looking at Aladdin, "How are you going to tell her that your father is the King of Thieves?" Aladdin exchanged guilty looks with Riku and Sora.

"You weren't planning on filling her in on that little detail, were you?" Enya accused, putting her hands on her hips. "Well then, what are you going to tell her?"

Cassim shrugged, "Well, my son can't tell her the truth. Perhaps that I was a prisoner of the dreaded King, we don't have go into detail. If everyone starts asking to many questions I'll just say it's all too painful. That I try to block out the memories."

"Yeah that might work," Sora said leaning his head back in his hands, "and a change of clothes, and no one will be able to tell you're the king of thieves."

"Are you sure that's a good idea," Kairi said looking nervous, "it's never a good idea to lie to someone you care about. What if she finds out?"

"We'll just have to make sure she doesn't."

Everyone stood in silence for a moment. Then Riku walked through the main door into the palace. Enya watched him go, feeling a pang of concern, something seemed wrong with him, like his mind was a million miles away. Riku remerged this time carrying an armful of clothing.

"Here." Riku said chucking the clothing to Cassim. Cassim caught the material deftly in midair. "That outta do."

….

The wind was blowing fiercely, causing the hem of the figures blood red cloak to snap around him, cracking like a whip. He stepped to the edge of the water staring out over the cold ocean.

Raising a hand in front of himself a black fog surrounded his palm. He began to step out onto the water. It pulled away from him, like he was a disease. As he continued to walk out into the inky blackness he stopped and turned to the right.

Floating just below the surface of the water was a grey figure of Sa'luk, golden claws taking on a green hue under the water.

"I don't believe that your job is done yet, my friend." The man said to the still figure below, "The Keyblade master is still alive. You will help me destroy him."

Underneath the water, Sa'luk opened his eyes. Rising from under the water Sa'luk stood.

"I'll destroy them all, my lord." Sa'luk's voice was blank and cold. The figure nodded and turned to walk towards the beach. Glancing back at his new slave his eyes flashed from inside the darkness.

"I don't care what you do to the others. Bring the keyblade master to me I want to kill him myself. Do what you wish with his friends."

….

Enya stood next to Sora and Riku. Cassim, newly dressed, was talking to Jasmine and the Sultan, while Aladdin stood next to his father. Kairi came bouncing over to Sora and the others.

"Aladdin's dad is staying for the wedding. Jasmine and the Sultan really seem to like him."

Sora grinned and followed Kairi back over to Aladdin and Cassim. Riku only shook his head and started back out the door. Goofy and Donald were outside with Genie and Abu. Riku continued to walk till he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around he saw Enya coming up behind him. Riku stopped and leaned against a wall looking annoyed.

"What?" He said coolly.

"I don't know, you tell me?" Enya said just as coolly. "You've been acting weird since you got back with Al's dad. I thought you'd be happy. You helped Aladdin find his dad, and Sora told me you got rid of that grey guy, Sa'luk, the one who attacked the wedding."

Riku nodded not looking at her. Enya shook her head. "Then what's the problem?"

"I – I just don't trust him that's all. Cassim, I just don't trust him."Riku muttered. Enya didn't have a chance to respond, because at that moment, Cassim and Aladdin walked past them, laughing together. Cassim noticed Riku and Enya and stopped to give them a warm smile.

"Ah, my lad there you are, and Enya wonderful to see you again."

"Jasmine and I decided we're just going to have a small wedding now, close family and friends only." Aladdin said looking at Riku and Enya. "We'll meet you in the main throne room in a couple of hours, alright?"

Both of them nodded and Aladdin continued down the hall. He stopped and turned when his father didn't follow him. Iago flew around the corner behind them and landed on Cassim's shoulder.

"I'll be there in a moment son; I just want to get ready." Cassim said and turned to walk back the way he'd come. Aladdin nodded and headed in the opposite direction.

….

Aladdin and Jasmine stood under the newly built pavilion. Sora, Donald, and Goofy once again stood beside Aladdin. Riku, Enya, and Kairi were the only ones standing in the congregation. There was no sign of Cassim. Aladdin was glancing around and around.

"Where is he?" Aladdin asked looking anxious. They all waited for several minutes but there was still no sign of Cassim. By this point everyone was getting nervous. Enya bit her lip glancing around. Riku glanced at Enya and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm worried about Cassim; he should have been here a while ago." Enya whispered looking at the doorway, hoping Cassim would walk in.

"I'll go look for him." Riku said. He squeezed Enya's shoulder and nodded to Kairi before exiting the throne room.

Riku closed the door behind himself, but something made him stop midstride. He could smell it before anything else, the thick, heavy scent of darkness. He recognized it from when Ansem had taken control of his heart. This was slightly different though; it had more of brimstone, sick, burning scent.

"_There's some kind of darkness,"_ Riku thought of what Mickey had said, _"that we don't what it is, or really where it is." _Wasn't that basically what King Mickey had said?

Stepping away from the door Riku glanced from side to side trying to find where the gut wrenching smell was coming from. Out of the corner of his eye Riku saw a shadow move. Whipping around he saw something, or someone, disappear around the corner of the hallway. Without thinking Riku took off after it.

Bolting around the corner Riku could see the figure turn down another hallway. Picking up speed Riku skidded down the hall but came sharply to a halt. The shadow had come to a stop his back up against one of the many doorways. It was Sa'luk.

Riku stared in shock and horror. He had seen this man fall over a huge cliff, into an ocean with thousands of sharp rocks below, and a strong current. There was no way that Sa'luk could have survived, but here he was, leaning against the doorway, his golden claw glinting in the light. He gave a terrible, wicked grin, his red eyes flashed. Riku could have sworn that they had once been yellow.

Summoning his Keyblade Riku got ready to attack, not completely sure what to do. Sa'luk should be dead, maybe he was. Could you kill someone who was already dead? Sa'luk didn't seem interested in fighting. He turned away from Riku and stepped into darkness only to disappear.

Riku had leapt forward, ready to drag Sa'luk out of the darkness, but it had closed behind him too quickly. Instead, he crashed into the door that Sa'luk had been leaning up against. Tumbling through the opened door Riku shook his head slightly dazed. Looking up from the floor Riku saw that he was in the main treasury, and he wasn't alone.

Cassim was in the middle of the room, his back to Riku with Iago on his shoulder.

"C'mon Cassim," Iago said staring at whatever was in the middle of the room, "this is the chance of a life time!"

Riku heard Cassim groan. "I know, I know. This is last time I'm doing this bird, after this, no more thievery."

Cassim turned towards where Riku was standing; Cassim had the oracle in his hand. He came to a halt when he saw Riku standing there in the doorway, he paled slightly.

"Riku, my lad, w-what are you doing here?" Cassim said trying to slide the oracle behind his back. Riku stepped up to him, his look growing more and more, cold with each step.

"What are you doing Cassim?" Riku said in a deadly calm voice. "Came to clean up some unfinished business, have you?"

Cassim opened his mouth to say something but the door that Riku had entered burst open again to reveal several guards. They came through the doorway, swords and bows raised, all pointed at either Cassim or Riku. One of the guards stepped forward; he looked between Riku and Cassim.

"So, our source was right, the boy and Aladdin's father were here, trying to steal the oracle. Take them."

….

Aladdin had resorted to pacing up and down the aisle. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched Aladdin going back and forth. Enya and Kairi were still standing in the congregation. Aladdin finally came to a stop next to Jasmine.

"Where is he?" Aladdin sounded frustrated and slightly panicked. Jasmine put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Aladdin, I'm – I'm sure he's on his way." She didn't sound very convinced.

Enya came up to Aladdin. "Riku went to go look for him. He'll be here soon."

"Maybe we should go and look for him though." Sora said glancing at Aladdin's anxious look. "Why don't we –"

Sora had turned to walk out the door only to see them opening. Several of the guards entered, one had Cassim by the back of the shirt, and two had Riku by the arms. Both men were handcuffed. Everyone stared at the procession.

"What's goin' on here?" Donald asked looking at Riku struggle against his captors.

"Dad?" Aladdin asked slowly. Cassim wouldn't look at him; he didn't even try to fight against the guard holding him.

"We found him trying to steal the oracle, your highness." One of the guards said, addressing Jasmine. "I would like you to meet, the King of Thieves."

"What!" Jasmine gasped, putting her hands to her mouth in shock. "No, no that's not possible."

"We found the cloak the King of Thieves was wearing, in his bag. There's no doubt that it's him your Highness. We even had an informant warn us that the King was going to come back, along with the boy."

"Must have been the perfect plan," another guard smirked, "come back during his son's wedding to snatch the oracle while everyone was distracted."

"No." Aladdin whispered the hurt and shock was clear in his voice. Enya took a step forward, but two of the guards stepped forward, blocking her path. She tried to get past them and the grabbed her yanking her to a stop.

"Let go!" She shouted struggling, "I know Riku! He wouldn't do anything like that! Let him go! You rotten –"

She was cut off when one of the guards holding her back shoved her back hard enough to make her fall to the floor.

"We caught him with the King of Thieves! He's obviously an accomplice! Along with the bird" the guard shouted. He then produced Iago from behind his back, tied and gagged, so much for being reformed.

"No!" Kairi shouted back, she pulled Enya to her feet. They both glared at the guards. Kairi looked at Sora, who looked angry but hadn't moved during the entire argument. "Sora, do something!"

Sora took a step forward, but Goofy and Donald each put a hand on his shoulder.

"We can't do anything Sora," Donald said looking upset, "we can't interfere with the laws of this world."

"But…" Sora said looking furious and confused.

"He's right Sora," Goofy said squeezing his friends slightly, "that would be muddling."

"Meddling." Enya said shortly, she looked at Riku for a long time. He gave her a small, sad, smile.

"He can't help me En, that's part of being the Kingdom Key barer."

Jasmine looked at Aladdin who was still staring at his father. "Aladdin, did you know your father was the King of Thieves?"

Aladdin bowed his head, "I-I thought he would change, I thought he wanted to see our wedding. I didn't think he would try to steal the oracle again."

Sora gritted his teeth; he'd never been this frustrated with being the Key barer in his entire life. He knew that Riku wasn't involved, but he couldn't do anything to help his friend, without interfering with the laws of the world.

"Jasmine," Sora asked pleadingly, "is there anything we can do to get them out of this?"

Jasmine looked at Aladdin, then at Sora, then at everyone else. "I'm so sorry Sora, but I have to follow the laws of Agrabah. My father's the Sultan; I have to follow the laws that he's created." Jasmine looked at the guard holding Cassim. "Take them to the prison."

"NO!" Enya and Kairi shouted. They both bolted towards Riku, Sora grabbed Kairi around the waist, holding her back. She struggled for a second then broke down, sobbing into Sora's shoulder. Enya kept going; she kept going till she grabbed a hold of Riku.

The guards tried to grab her to drag her off. She kicked and lashed out at them. "Let go of me!"

"Enya," Riku said calmly, even though his hands were handcuffed he was able to put his arms around her enough to hold her still. "It's alright, we'll think of something. It's fine."

Enya only stared at him, why was he so calm? He was going to be thrown in prison and they couldn't do anything to keep him out. One of the guards grabbed her by the back of the neck, throwing her away from Riku. She stumbled back and fell into Aladdin. He caught her and held her as they watched Riku and Cassim being dragged away.

….

Everyone was at Aladdin's house. The wedding had been postponed once again and no one really knew what to do. Enya sat near the window next to Aladdin staring at the palace, which glittered in the fading sunlight. At that moment, Kairi entered the room closing the curtain door behind her. She let out a sigh and sat next to Enya.

"How's Sora doing?" Enya asked quickly glancing at the curtain Kairi had just come from.

"Not good," Kairi said shaking her head, "He's angry and frustrated because he, Donald, and, Goofy can't do anything to help Riku and Cassim. He feels so helpless Enya, I've never seen him like this."

"Why, because he's the wielder of the Kingdom key?" Enya asked. Kairi nodded, "That's stupid! I thought the whole point of being the Keyblade barer was to defeat Heartless and defend the innocent! Riku's innocent!"

Aladdin leaned his head back against the wall, "This is all, my fault." Kairi and Enya looked at him confused. "I'm the one who brought my father back here, if I'd just left him there… It was so stupid of me to think that he would change! He only wanted his treasure."

Kairi put a hand on Aladdin's shoulder, "It wasn't stupid Aladdin, and you just wanted him back in your life. There's nothing wrong about that."

Enya nodded and Aladdin seemed to cheer up a tiny bit. He looked at the two girls and stood, looking out the window for a long moment.

"Sora, Donald, and Goofy can't do anything to help my Father or your friend right?"

"Yeah," Enya said elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hands. "They can't help because Sora's the Kingdom key wielder and Donald and Goofy are his protectors or something. What are you getting at?"

"There's nothing stopping me from going to save them, now is there." Aladdin said coolly. "I'm gonna bust them out of prison."

"What!" Kairi said looking shocked. "Aladdin, if you get caught, Jasmine will have to throw **you** in prison. You can't risk your life with her."

"I have to get my father out," Aladdin shouted looking at Enya and Kairi, "don't you want Riku out of prison."

"Of course," Enya said getting to her feet, "but Aladdin, you can't do it alone. We have to come with you." Aladdin shook his head quickly, giving them both a stern look.

"No, you're too young, and it's going to be dangerous."

"Aladdin, we're the same age as Riku and Sora and I'm not going to be left behind again." Enya said staring him down.

"Three heads are better than one." Kairi said. "Besides, we don't having anything stopping us; we're not the one who wields the Kingdom key."

"I don't even have a keyblade." Enya pointed out, grinning slyly. Aladdin looked at their determined faces and nodded. He went up to the curtains that hung over the window, looking out at the palace. He yanked them down. Pulling out the dagger his father had given him, he began to slice them into three parts.

"These curtains are about the same color as my father's cloak." Aladdin explained as he continued to slice the material. "We'll make fake King of Thieves cloaks in order to confuse the guards. It won't make a difference if they get close enough to you, so keep your distance."

Enya and Kairi nodded. Both picked up the material and began to wrap it around themselves, making sure that their faces were mostly covered. Aladdin made a few adjustments till all three of them looked like they were the King of thieves.

"I hope this works." Kairi said her voice muffled by the cloth wrapped around her face. Enya glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. Aladdin had been right. At close proximity she could definitely tell that Kairi was Kairi and not the King of Thieves. Aladdin looked pretty close, almost identical to his father, but she had a feeling that comment wouldn't be appreciated.

"Alright." Aladdin said turning towards the door. "Let's go."

….

Kairi and Enya were right behind Aladdin slinking down the spiraling stairs to the prison. Aladdin pressed his back against the wall as a couple of the guards walked past them. Aladdin reached out and plucked the key-ring off the closest guard. The two guards continued down the hall without even realizing they had been robbed. Aladdin nodded at Enya and Kairi and headed down the hall in the opposite direction.

"How will we know what cell your Father and Riku are in?" Kairi whispered as they continued down the dully lit corridor.

"He'll be in the maximum security; the guards have been trying to capture him long before he attacked my wedding." Aladdin's voice sounded indifferent. Enya and Kairi exchanged a worried look, but didn't say anything. Enya heard something come up behind them, turning around she could see shadows moving along the wall.

"Guards are coming!" She whispered quickly, "Move!"

They quickly ran along the hallway, trying to keep out of sight. They skidded to a stop when they heard footsteps coming not only from behind them, but also from in front of them. There was no other hallway off the one they were in. They were trapped.

"The cell," Enya gasped looking at the wooden door behind them, "Open the door. We'll hide in there till the guards pass."

Aladdin fumbled with the keys, trying to figure out which one was the key. They couldn't be seen yet, not till they freed Riku and Cassim.

"Hurry up." Kairi hissed quietly, watching the shadows lengthen on the wall. Aladdin shoved a key into the keyhole desperately and there was a soft, click. The door was unlocked, the three of them quickly scrambled inside closing the door behind them. Ducking down so they couldn't be seen through the barred window on top, the friends sat silent as they heard the guards pass by.

"Who's there?" Aladdin, Kairi, and Enya froze as they heard a voice behind them. Slowly turning they peered into the darkness that was inside the cell. The only light that was in the room was coming from the small window in the door. Whoever had spoken could obviously see them because he spoke again.

"Come to mock me have you. You must think you're very clever, making a copy of my old cloak."

Aladdin stiffened slightly and took a step forward, his eyes adjusting to the dimness. He quickly pulled the hood of his cloak off, so that his face could be seen.

"Aladdin!" The voice sounded shock. It was Cassim.

"Aladdin, what are you doing here?" This was another voice. This time Enya and Kairi stiffened, they both knew that voice.

"Riku," Enya called quietly, "is that you?"

They all heard a groan and chains rattle. "Oh no, Enya, get out of here. Let me guess Kairi's with you. You need to get out of here, there's nothing you can do."

Enya didn't respond. She and Aladdin made their way across the prison floor. Kairi ducked back out into the hall. A few moments later she reappeared carrying a torch. It illuminated the room with an orange light.

Riku and Cassim were on the far side of the room. Their arms were chained over their heads, and Iago was still gagged and locked in a small cage.

"How did you get down here?" Cassim asked as Aladdin approached him.

"What difference does it make?" Aladdin said coldly as he pulled out the keys again. Unlocking his father's restraints he continued, "We don't have much time. Kairi, Enya, and I will distract the guards. You get out."

Riku stared at Aladdin, who chucked the keys to Enya when he was done freeing Cassim.

"How are you helping us? You're not allowed to interfere with the laws of the worlds."

"No, the Kingdom key barer isn't allowed to help you." Enya said as she worked the key into the lock. "There's no rule about me and Kairi."

"Nice loophole." Riku muttered as his arms were released. He rubbed his wrists trying to get circulation back into hands. Enya went over to Aladdin, Kairi went to follow them but Riku grabbed her wrist.

"Kairi, what are you planning on doing?" Riku saw Enya yank her hood more securely over her face. Riku's eyes widened as he caught on. "Kairi, you can't! Enya can't! You –"

Kairi pulled away from Riku and watched Enya and Aladdin head in opposite directions. She turned back to Riku and Cassim who were still staring at her and at the door where Enya and Aladdin had disappeared.

"I'm sorry Riku," Kairi said stepping out the door, backing away slowly, "you need to get out of here while you can. Take Cassim and go." With that she ran out the door leaving Riku, Cassim, and Iago behind.

Kairi ran along the hall till she caught up with Enya, who was leaning up against a wall, peering around the corner. Enya glanced over her shoulder when she heard Kairi coming up next to her.

"So, what's the plan exactly?" Kairi whispered. Enya grinned at her, but then remembered the mask over her face that made it impossible for Kairi to see the smile.

"You'll see." Enya whispered. She peered around the corner for a moment; Enya could see three guards coming. Turning back to Kairi she asked, "Can I borrow that torch for a moment?"

Kairi blinked in surprised, then handed Enya the torch that she was still carrying. Enya winked at her and then, right when the guards were close enough, she lashed out. Enya bashed the closest guard in the back of the head with the wooden handle. He crumpled immediately, still conscious but roaring with pain. The other two quickly drew swords. Enya glanced over her shoulder where Kairi was crouching, still hidden in the shadows.

"_Stay put."_ Enya's look said, Kairi nodded and pressed further into the shadows. Enya turned back to her assailants just in time to see the guard on her left come at her, swinging his sword. Enya raised the now put out torch in front her stopping the sword mid-swing. Shoving the guard back Enya punched him in the gut making him stagger back. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt Enya flipped the stunned guard over her back and slammed him onto the floor next to the other unarmed guard. The final guard stared at his two stunned comrades, and then turned scared eyes on Enya.

"How, could you escape that cell?" He cried as Enya took a step forward. He raised his own sword, slicing it down at Enya. She quickly dodged to blade and with a swinging high kick she smacked the remaining guard right in the face, bringing him to his knees. Enya stepped back so that her face was completely hidden in shadow.

"Because," She whispered, trying to make her voice sound gruff and masculine, "I am the King of Thieves." With that Enya ran to Kairi, who looked absolutely stunned.

"When did you learn how to do that," Kairi said hoarsely, "all that kicking and punching, I've only ever seen you fight with a toy sword or those daggers of yours. What was that?"

"I grew up with a younger brother," Enya huffed, hustling Kairi down the hall, "and you've missed a lot on the island in the past two years."

Enya came to a stop halfway down the corridor, listening. Kairi stopped too. "Why didn't you knock those guards out?" Kairi asked as Enya listened to the sound of people coming. "Why did you only stun them?"

"Because," Enya replied shoving Kairi into the beginning of a side hallway, "I want them to chase me. Now, I'll stay where these guys can see me, they'll follow me, once they've seen me, run in the opposite direction. If you pass any guards let them see you long enough to think you're Cassim. Then, run till you lose them; meet me and Aladdin in the stables. Hopefully, Riku and Cassim will be far away by then."

Enya stepped out into the light of the hallway again, they both heard cries as the guards saw her. "Remember, don't use your keyblade," Enya whispered backing away slowly, "we don't want the guards to know who we really are." With that Enya bolted down the hall, the guards chasing after her. Kairi stepped out of the darkened hallway when she couldn't hear footsteps anymore then turned, and ran in the opposite direction.

….

As Enya ran she could hear the guards huffing behind her, she also heard someone in the distance scream that they'd seen the King of Thieves. A few seconds later she heard the same cry coming from a different direction. _"Good,"_ Enya thought as she turned down another hall, _"they've seen Aladdin and Kairi. Now, Cassim and Riku have a good distraction to use so they can get out." _

Enya turned down another hall and saw the stairway out of the prison, putting on an extra burst of speed she sped up the spiraling stairs. When she came to the top of the stairs, the door was locked.

Taking a deep breath, Enya took a small step back and then kicked the door with all her might. It wasn't a spectacular brake, but it was enough to snap the lock. Grabbing the broken lock Enya yanked it off and ran through the door out into the cold night air. The guards were slowly down, Enya leapt behind a cart.

"Where'd he go? Where, did he go?" She heard one of the guards shout, peeking around the side of the cart Enya saw the guards she had fought in the prison. The one in front turned towards where Enya was hiding, she quickly ducked back behind the cart praying that he hadn't really seen her. She heard footsteps coming closer to her hiding her place. Bracing herself against the cart, Enya bit her lip. She didn't really have the energy for anymore hand to hand combat, and she knew she couldn't summon her daggers without them finding out who she was.

"He's over here!" Enya heard someone shout off in the distance. "He's over by the dyers shop, hurry!" Enya was nowhere near the dyers shop but she didn't let herself relax. The lead guard stopped and turned his back on Enya's hiding place.

"That's not possible." The guards growled. "I saw him come this way. No man can move that quickly."

With that all the guards ran towards the dyers shop. Enya didn't move for a second, taking a deep breath. Stepping out from behind her shelter Enya ran straight towards the stables. She didn't see any other guards on her way to the stables; problem was she didn't see Kairi or Aladdin either. As soon as she entered Enya knew something was wrong. The stables were cold and dark.

Taking a step inside, the door slammed behind her. Enya whipped around to see someone standing behind the door. His dark red robe stood out like a blood stain against the pale clay walls of the stable.

"Breaking two criminals out of prison, that's not very wise." The figure said. His voice was smooth, but had a biting tone to it that was as cold as ice. "Now, where's the Keyblade wielder, I can't imagine him leaving his friends to handle all this, alone."

Enya didn't know what to do. This man, whoever he was, knew she wasn't Cassim. That much was obvious, but he also knew about Sora. She took a few steps back, even though the man's hood was up Enya could see his eyes, they were the same color as the robe he was wearing, a deep, crimson, red.

"You mustn't ignore me child. That would be rude." The man pulled down his hood. His skin was a pale gray, so pale that it looked transparent. His long white hair was slicked back from his hallowed face. Even though his hair was white, Enya would guess he wasn't any older than twenty-five, twenty-seven at most.

He took another step forward and in a flash of black smoke a long, thin sword appeared in his hand. The hilt of the sword was very short, and was black. The actual blade was pale silver and looked like an overly long fencing sword. He pointed the sword at Enya.

"Now, why don't you tell me where Sora is?"

Enya felt her chest tighten, like a phantom pain of the breathing trouble she use to have. Everything inside Enya screamed that this man was not someone she wanted to be anywhere near her.

"Who are you, and what do you want with him?" Enya asked, trying to buy time. Hopefully Aladdin, or Kairi, would show up soon. The man laughed a cold, liquid laugh that sent chills up and down Enya's spine.

"Formalities of introduction, I am Merrikh, and what business I have with Sora is nothing that concerns you child." He said took several steps closer to Enya, he was close enough that she could smell the strong stench of brimstone coming off him. "Now, tell me where he is, or you'll have to suffer my displeasure."

"Not a chance." Enya said staring Merrikh down. "You stay away from my brother or you can suffer _**my**_ displeasure."

Merrikh took a step back in surprise, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Your brother, my, my, my, that's very interesting."

With that Merrikh snapped his fingers, and twenty Heartless appeared. Merrikh stepped back and disappeared into the darkness. Enya stumbled back in surprise, all twenty leapt at her.

"Enya!" Kairi leapt through one of the windows on the upper level. As she fell Kairi summoned her keyblade. Flipping mid air Kairi sliced through several Heartless. Kairi landed on her feet next to Enya. Enya summoned her daggers, shaking off the feeling of dread she had from being around the hooded figure, Merrikh.

One of the Heartless slithered across the floor towards Enya; it disappeared from sight when it reached the shadows. Enya glanced around widely, looking up she saw the Heartless climbing across the roof. Enya lifted the daggers over her head, as the Heartless jumped down from the beams; it was impaled on both daggers. Whipping the daggers over her head Enya dislodged the Heartless' body making it smash into several of the other Heartless before it disappeared.

Kairi leapt back and forth slashing through two of the Heartless. One came up behind her trying to make a grab for her. Rolling sideways Kairi leapt onto the gate of the nearest stable. The remaining Heartless charged her, black fingers reaching out for her. At the last second she leapt over their heads. Landing behind them Kairi sliced several of the Heartless right in the back.

Those who escaped Kairi, scattered around her and rushed Enya. They stayed out of her reach trying to force Enya into a corner. _"What I wouldn't give for a keyblade."_

Enya thought desperately. The daggers worked great, but only at a close distance. She could throw them but summoning them back could take up too much time. Out of the corner of her eye, Enya saw a noose, probably used to tie up a horse at one point.

Enya bolted towards the rope and the Heartless followed close on her heels. Grabbing the rope Enya slipped one of her daggers into the hole, tightening the knot. Turning around Enya cracked the rope over her head; the dagger glinting at the end sliced a Heartless right down the middle. Twisting around Enya swung the rope around catching the remaining Heartless across the middle, all disappearing in the usual white mist.

Kairi came over to Enya, pulling down her hood. Kairi gave her friend a sarcastic grin. "Well, that was fun wasn't it?" Enya lowered her own hood. She flicked a strand of long hair over her shoulder.

"Always is." Enya pulled her dagger out of the rope, de-summoning both of them. "You sure took you're sweet time getting here."

"Yeah, a couple of the guards followed me all the way to the dyers place."

"That was you?" Enya asked. Kairi nodded. "Well, I guess I should thank you again then. The guards chasing me only left because someone had spotted you near the dyers shop."

"Yeah that was me. Took me forever to shake those guys, nearly thought I hadn't."

"Where's Aladdin? We were supposed to meet here." Enya asked glancing around.

"Not sure, probably still trying to get away from the guards." Kairi said slightly nervous. She looked at several horses that were near the front of the stable. "We could look around for him on horseback; it would be a lot faster than running around." Enya nodded and they made their way towards the front of the stable. Just when they reached the horses and began to saddle them the door burst open again.

Through the door burst several guards, each wielding a sword. In the lead was the guard who had thrown Enya away from Riku in the throne room. He stared at Enya and Kairi, or more importantly the robes they were wearing.

"Those robes, they look just like…" The guard's voice trailed off as everything came together for him. "The King of Thieves isn't a demon, he's just an allusion. A couple of brats breaking the real King out of the prison, they were trying to confuse us."

A fat guard on the left of the leader made a grab at Kairi. He was able to get a hold of her wrist. Out of pure instinct, Kairi re-summoned her keyblade. She used the handle end to bash the man's hand. He let go, howling in pain, a few fingers were probably broken.

"I knew I recognize you!" The leader shouted as Enya yanked Kairi behind her. She summoned her daggers, their cover was blown anyways, might as well be able to defend herself. "You two are friends with that silver haired boy we threw in prison. The Princess will send you straight to the executioner's block. Get them!"

The guards advanced on Enya and Kairi. Both felt the grip of exhaustion seep into their bodies. They had just fought off twenty Heartless, run all over Agrabah, and broken two men out of prison.

The guards were only a few feet away when something thing came up behind them. It was nothing but a blur of blue. There were thousands of spheres of white light fly off the figure each time one of them hit a guard it would explode, knocking the man out. Whipping around faster than anyone could see the figure barreled into the lead guard who had stayed behind. The guard was smashed into the stable wall, cracking his head against the hard wall. He dropped to the floor unconscious.

Enya raised her daggers, Kairi hefted her keyblade, ready for the figure to turn and attack them. For a horrible moment Enya thought that it was Merrikh. But when he turned around, both of them could see that it was Riku.

"What are you doing here?" Enya said running up to him and punching him on the arm, "I thought we told you to get out of here? And what happened to your clothes, there blue."

"Nice to see you to," Riku said rubbing his arm, "you know you could thank me for saving you." Riku grimace at the two girls. "As for the clothes I used the magic those fairies gave us, but I choose this form instead." He pointed to his blue clothing. In a flash of light it returned to its original color.

Enya nodded, "Okay then and, thanks – but seriously, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be halfway across the desert by now with Cassim."

"I couldn't leave you two here to take the hit for me, I needed to make sure you were alright." He put a hand on each Enya's and Kairi's shoulders. "Besides, Cassim went running after Aladdin."

"What?" Kairi gasped looking at Riku. There was a sound outside the door and each raised their weapons, ready for an attack. In ran Cassim and Aladdin looking exhausted. Iago was flopped on Cassim's shoulder, looking sick.

"Aladdin, what's wrong?" Enya inquired getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"The guard chasing me, he got to close; he grabbed the back of my hood and ripped it off. He saw my face." Enya saw Kairi close her eyes in despair. It was bad enough that Enya and Kairi had been seen, but Aladdin lived in Agrabah, Jasmine was in Agrabah, if the guards had seen his face, he couldn't stay here.

One of the guards on the ground near Riku's feet began to stir.

"We need to move." Riku said walking over to the horses that Enya and Kairi had started to saddle. There were four horses, not enough, but it would have to do. Quickly saddling the horses Aladdin and Cassim kicked their horses into a gallop and bolted out the stable door.

Riku helped Kairi onto another horse and she followed Aladdin and Cassim, throwing up a storm of dust in her wake. Riku leapt onto the last horse, he reached down from the saddle offering his hand to Enya. "Get on." Enya took his hand firmly and Riku yanked her into the saddle behind him. Enya gripped his shoulders as he kicked the horse. They galloped out of the stable leaving the groaning guards behind them.

….

The four horses galloped out of the gates that surrounded Agrabah and out into the desert. A mile out Aladdin yanked his horse to a stop. The others followed suit, the horses pawed at the ground and whinnied.

"I think we lost them." Aladdin panted jumping down from his horse. "At least those guards in the stables won't be any trouble to us."

"They're not the ones that worry me." Enya gasped as she slid off the horse. "Every guard in Agrabah is probably looking for you, Aladdin. That or Kairi and me." A thought struck her suddenly and it made Enya turn deathly pale. Kairi leapt off her own horse and came up to Enya looking concerned.

"Enya, what's the matter?"

"Sora…" Enya whispered she whipped around looking back at Agrabah. "Sora's still in Agrabah and if they know about us!" She ran back to the horse that Kairi had ridden and leapt onto its back. She started to kick the horse into a gallop when Riku rode out into front of her making her own horse buck and rear to a stop.

"Where do you think you're going?" Riku shouted at her over the horse's screeches. Enya tried to move around him but Riku continue to block her off. "Enya, you and Kairi can't go back anymore then Aladdin or Cassim."

"He's my brother!" Enya shouted at Riku. "I have to go back!"

"You're being very foolish." Cassim said from his saddle. "You're brother can handle himself, but as soon as you set foot in Agrabah, you'll be arrested. Or worse."

"I don't care." Enya said calmly, "I lost him for two years, I'm not going to lose him again, not when there's a way I can help him. It's my fault this time."

There was a moment of silence then Aladdin walked over to Enya. He put his hand over hers. "I'm going with you. I won't abandon Jasmine either."

"You can't!" Cassim shouted. "The moment that guard saw your face, your life in Agrabah was over. What good, will going back do, but to get yourself killed."

"We have to take responsibility for what we've done." Kairi said looking at Agrabah. "I'm going too; I won't let them hurt Sora for something we did. Maybe, we can talk to Jasmine and figure something out…"

"You're crazy!" Iago was flying in front of Kairi's face eyes wide. "The only thing they'll have to figure out is what torture will be more fun to use on you."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Kairi said walking over to Aladdin. He nodded and climbed into the saddle, pulling Kairi up behind him.

"But we have the oracle!" Iago shouted flapping his wings in agitation. "All that treasure just waiting for us!"

Enya whipped her head around to look at Iago then at Cassim. Riding over to him, Enya stared Cassim straight in the eyes.

"You went back?" She asked him coolly, he nodded. "We risk our lives to get you out of prison, and you sneak back into the palace to steal some stupid treasure!"

"I had nothing to lose!" Cassim shouted in defense. Everyone just stared at him in shock.

"Yes, you did." Aladdin whispered. "Get out of here Cassim, and don't come back." With that Aladdin kicked his horse and he and Kairi sped away. Enya turned her horse to follow them but Riku had moved so that he was in front of her again.

"I'll go with you." He said. Enya shook her head firmly.

"No Riku, we risked too much to get you out of that prison. Don't make it be for nothing. Go with Cassim, we'll come and get you in a day or so. Trust me." She smiled at him but he could tell that she didn't really believe what she was saying. He reached out and gripped her hand for a moment, squeezing her fingers tight.

"Alright, but if you don't come in two days, I'm comin' after you. Trust me. You – don't – want – that."

Enya smiled again, "Using my own words against me. I promise we'll come and get you." She pulled her fingers out of his grip. She gave one last glaring stare at Cassim then rode off back towards Agrabah.

….

The remaining thirty-eight thieves sat around their secret hide-away, none of them really sure what to do.

"Shouldn't the King be back now?" One of the taller thieves asked, twirling a sword between his fingers. "Where did he go anyways, you'd think he'd be here celebrating that Sa'luk is gone."

"Cassim, probably on another wild goose-chase," Another thief shouted across the room, "I agreed with Sa'luk, he was too soft. We need a true leader; we needed a leader like Sa'luk." Several of the other thieves murmured in agreement.

"Well, it doesn't matter." A fat thief called over the muttering. "Sa'luk is dead, and unless he comes back from the dead, we wait for Cassim."

At that moment they all heard the loud cracking noise of the secret entry opening. Every one of the thieves leapt to their feet, drawing their weapons. Out of the shadows, stepped a figure.

"Your wish is granted." The figure was Sa'luk. There were shouts of horror and surprise. Everyone started shouting all at once.

"That's not possible!"

"Those brats said you fell off the cliff!"

"You're supposed to be dead!"

Sa'luk raised a hand and the room silent. "As you can all see, I'm not dead. But there are a few people that need to be." Sa'luk's crimson eyes flashed.

….

Cassim lead the way along the cliff side that lead to the secret entry of the Forty Thieves hideaway. Unlike before, Riku had to ride his horse down the steep cliff, instead of flying on Carpet straight down. Riku had remained quite the entire time. Before heading down the cliff Riku pulled his horse to a stop, looking over his shoulder he took one last long look in the direction of Agrabah.

Cassim realized that Riku was no longer following him, so he pulled his own horse to a stop. "I'm sorry for what you lost." Cassim said turning his horse around. "I know that it must be hard to lose your friends like this, particularly that red-headed girl."

Riku looked over at Cassim in surprise. "Kairi – we're just friends, good friends, but just friends."

"_Besides,"_ Riku thought turning to look at the distant shadows of Agrabah, _"It's pretty obvious how she feels about Sora. He's just too stupid to realize it." _Cassim's voice broke through Riku's thoughts.

"Well, if not Kairi, what about your friends sister, Enya." That surprised Riku even more than Cassim suggesting Riku having feelings for Kairi. After all, he did once, maybe he still did. But now he was starting to get annoyed.

"Are you trying to be funning?" Riku said coldly, turning his horse back towards the cliff path. "Enya and I, we're like siblings. So stop trying to get to know me. It's because of you that I'm even stuck here."

Riku kicked his horse into a gallop down the pathway. Iago stayed on Cassim's shoulder, both watching Riku disappear from sight.

"I don't think he's real happy with you." Iago said glancing up at Cassim. "You know, he probably doesn't even want any of the treasure. If it's just you and me, Riku won't have to deal with ya, and that's more treasure for us."

"And what about my men?" Cassim asked as he followed Riku down to the ocean shore. "Are you suggesting that I leave my men out of the deal as well?"

"Well, it's just a thought." Iago said flapping in front of Cassim's face. Cassim waved a hand, shooing Iago away.

"I would never cut my men out of the deal, it's an ultimate treasure, and they've stood by me longer than anyone else."

Cassim continued down the path till he suddenly heard that sound of metal clashing with metal. As he rounded the corner Cassim saw Riku was now on the ground, and he was surrounded by the remaining thieves. Riku's keyblade drawn and he was fighting and blocking each man as he attacked.

"Stand down men," Cassim shouted riding his horse forward, "he's not the enemy."

The thieves continued to attack Riku, completely ignoring Cassim's orders. One tried to grab Riku by the back of the neck. Riku grabbed the thieves hand and flipped him over his shoulder, using the thief as a human shield.

"I told you to stop!" Cassim shouted leaping from his horses back. But as he landed several of the larger thieves grabbed his arms holding him in place. Cassim struggled but they held him tight. "What are you doing? You can't do this, I'm your King!"

Out of the shadows stepped Sa'luk, grinning wickedly. "I'm afraid that your time on the throne has ended Cassim, the men have chosen a new leader."

Cassim's eyes widened in horror, he stared at Sa'luk dumbfounded. "Sa'luk you – you're supposed to be –"

"Dead?" Sa'luk let out a bark of laughter. He stepped back into darkness only to reappear right behind Riku, who was still fighting several of the thieves all at once. Riku sensing the darkness turned around, only to be punched in the face by Sa'luk. Riku crumbled to the sandy shore.

"I'm not so easy to kill, Cassim." Sa'luk continued still standing over Riku's limp body. "Unlike others." With that, Sa'luk grabbed Riku by the hair, yanking him to his knees his clawed fist as Riku's throat.

"My master really wanted to kill you himself, but…" Sa'luk said pressing his claws to Riku's throat more firmly.

"Wait!" Cassim said struggling against his captors. "You want the treasure right, all those riches, fit for a King." Sa'luk looked up from Riku, who was still unconscious.

"And what do you have that would get us there?" Sa'luk sneered. "As far as I can remember, every attempt you've made, to finding this treasure, has been in vain."

"I have a way." Cassim stated firmly. "But I won't show you if you kill the boy, let him go, and I'll tell you how to find the treasure." Out of nowhere Merrikh appeared, hooded as usual, by his blood red cloak.

"Sa'luk, do you have the Key bearer?" Merrikh came to a halt in front of Sa'luk looking down at Riku. Anger rippled across Merrikh's pale face, eyes flashing. "You fool! This is not the Kingdom Key bearer! This is just one of his friends."

"But My Lord," Sa'luk said quickly straightening. "He was the stronger fighter; I assumed that he was the one you meant."

Merrikh looked over to Sa'luk who was still holding up Riku's limp form. "Very well then, bring him. He will be excellent bait for the Keyblade master. And Cassim shall tell us how to find this Island, and this treasure. Now, take them to the boat."

With that Cassim and Riku were dragged away by the remaining thieves, Merrikh and Sa'luk leading the way. Iago had stayed behind when the thieves had attacked, to scared to do anything but cower under the saddle blanket. Seeing the thieves disappear from sight, he quickly flapped into the air, and flew straight towards Agrabah.

….

Sora, Goofy, and Donald where lead back into the palace by several guards, they were pushed roughly into the Throne Room.

"Would someone tell me what the heck is goin' on," Sora shouted at the guards, "where's Enya, and Kairi? What are you doing?"

Jasmine appeared from the door beside the throne looking upset.

"Captain! What do you think you're doing? Do you know what time it is?" Jasmine said putting her hands on her hips. She'd had a rough day, what with Aladdin acting so distant and her wedding being delayed, again.

"I'm sorry your highness, but there is a situation that must be resolved." The Captain, a burly man with a goatee said, bowing slightly. "The King of Thieves and his accomplice escaped from the prison, earlier tonight."

"What?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed in unison.

"Escaped, probably isn't the best word for it," the Captain continued, "broken out, would be a better fit."

"Well it wasn't us!" Donald said tapping a webbed foot angrily.

"Yeah," Goofy chimed in, "we're not aloud ter interfere with the laws of the world, whatta with Sora bein' the Kingdom key barer and all."

"Oh, we know it wasn't you three." One of the guards on Sora's right said coldly. "It was Aladdin, and those two girls that were with you."

"No." Sora and Jasmine gasped, looking at each other in horror.

"Enya and Kairi wouldn't –" Sora said looking between the guards. "They can't interfere with the laws of the worlds either."

"But Sora," Goofy whispered, "Enya did disobey the Queen of Hearts, when she ordered Alice to be beheaded." Sora turned to look at Goofy and Donald.

"Yeah, but so did I, remember, when the Queen thought Alice tried to steal her heart"

"But the Queen of Hearts wasn't the true ruler of Wonderland." Donald said. "I don't think the laws apply to her, and probably Riku and Kairi too."

Sora's shoulders slumped. What Donald and Goofy were saying made sense.

"So where are they?" The Captain said grabbing Sora's shoulder. At that moment the main doors open to reveal Aladdin. Enya and Kairi were on either side of him, all still dressed in their King of Thieves disguises. Everyone just stared as all three slowly walked forward. Once Aladdin, Kairi, and Enya came to a stop right in front of Jasmine, there was an explosion of noise.

"Aladdin! What's going on? They say you broke you're father out of the prison!" Jasmine said coming up to him.

"Kairi, Enya! Why did you go with him? What were you thinking?" Sora shouted pulling them to the side.

"You see! I told you that they were the ones who broke the King of Thieves out, there still in their disguises!" The Captain shouted, grabbing at Kairi's blue robe.

"Send them to the executioners block!" Another guard shouted.

"What's all this?" A voice from beside the throne asked. Everyone turned to see a small, round man with a large white beard. It was Jasmine's father, the Sultan of Agrabah. "Aladdin, my boy, would you mind explaining to me what is going on."

….

"I must say your actions are most disappointing." The Sultan was now sitting in his throne. Jasmine stood beside him, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood a little to the side. Aladdin, Kairi, and Enya were surrounded by the guards.

"It is true your Highness, Aladdin has obviously followed in his father's footstep, he is a criminal. As for these two, well, one could only guess why they would break that boy out." The Captain said. Both Enya and Kairi flushed, angry and hurt.

"That's enough, Razul." The Sultan said standing. The room fell silent as he walked forward. "I've already made a decision."

Jasmine put her hands over her mouth, terrified for the answer. Sora, Donald, and Goofy leaned forward in anticipation. Aladdin kept his gaze on Jasmine.

"I cannot over look the crimes of Cassim, but what you three have done…" The Sultan paused for a moment. "…Well, Aladdin you did it out of love of your Father, and I can tell that you two young ladies obviously care very deeply for your friend, if you were willing to risk so much for him. Also, you were all willing to come back and take responsibility for what you've done. I don't see any real crime."

Jasmine ran to Aladdin throwing her arms around his neck, he quickly embraced her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy let out a whoop of glee and went straight to Kairi and Enya. Sora hugged Enya and Kairi tightly, one arm around each of them. Donald and Goofy, jumped up and down with joy.

Grinning Enya pulled away from her brother and made her way over to the Sultan.

"Um…Your Majesty?" Enya said tapping the Sultan's shoulder lightly. He turned around to look up at her.

"Yes, ah – Enya, correct?" the Sultan asked pointing a curious finger at her. Enya nodded. "What is then, Enya?"

"It's about our friend Riku…" Enya said slowly. Everyone else stopped jumping around, all waiting to hear the Sultan's answer.

"Riku? Oh you mean that silver haired fellow who was Cassim's accomplice. What about him?"

"That's the thing Your Majesty," Enya said in a pleading tone. "Riku wouldn't – couldn't have helped Cassim. Can't he come back to Agrabah?"

The Sultan shook his head firmly. "I'm sorry, I'm already stretching the laws by allowing Aladdin, Kairi, and you go. Unless, you're friend does something extraordinary – I'm afraid he will never be welcome in Agrabah again."

Enya felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "This it all my fault, I told Riku to go and look for Cassim. If I hadn't…"

Sora put his hand on Enya's shoulder, but at that moment Iago came hurtling in from one of the high windows. His wings gave out and he plummeted towards the ground. Goofy ran forward and caught Iago before he hit the marbled floor.

"Iago!" Goofy shouted at the panted bird. "Iago, are you okay?"

"Al's – Dad." Iago wheezed, gasping for breath. "And R-Re…"

"Riku?" Sora said running forward. Donald, Enya, Kairi, Aladdin, and Jasmine followed him, all crowding around Goofy, staring at the limp bird in his hands. "What about Riku and Cassim?"

"It's Sa'luk the guy Sora beat –he's not beat. He's alive! And he got a hold of Riku and Cassim. Plus, there was this other guy – in a red cloak – he said somethin' 'bout a trap for the Keyblade master."

Enya felt an icy chill spread all the way across her body.

"Merrikh." She whispered hoarsely.

Sora looked at Enya eyebrows raised. "Enya, what are talking about, who's Merrikh?"

Enya blinked, the cold feeling ebbing away. "He found me in the stables; Merrikh said that he wanted something from you. But what's he doing with Sa'luk?"

"No idea," Everyone turned to see Aladdin yanking off his King of Thieves disguise off. "But I'm going to save my Father…again."

"We're coming too!" Sora, Enya, Kairi, Jasmine, Donald, and Goofy all said at once. If the situation hadn't been so serious, it would have been funny.

"There's no way that we're all going to fit on Carpet!" Kairi said, hand on hips. "I think it should just be me and Enya, we're the ones who let Riku and Cassim go."

"Riku's my best friend!" Sora retorted. "Besides, I'm the Keyblade barer. So it should be me, Donald, and Goofy."

"I've got a better idea!" Out of nowhere Genie appeared grinning at everyone. "Time for me ta show ya that cosmic razzle-dazzle I was tellin' ya about last time Sora!"

Carpet soared through the window landing in front of Aladdin. He, Sora, and Goofy climbed on. Iago flapped onto Goofy's shoulder.

Genie gave Donald and the three remaining girls a wink. His body began to stretch and morph till it looked almost exactly like Carpet, except more blue and with a head and hands and feet for tassels.

Genie patted his own back. "Your carriage, ladies and my feathered friend, hop on."

….

Riku and Cassim had been tied hand and foot and sat on the deck of a small boat. Sa'luk and Merrikh stood at the front of the deck while the rest of the thieves ran around managing the boat.

Riku shook his head slightly, groaning as his head throbbed. Cassim sat back to back with him, his head hung slightly. Sa'luk turned to glare at them, his arms crossed.

"Alright Cassim, we've done what you said so far but I don't see any treasure. Consult the oracle."

"Don't Cassim." Riku said firmly, "Don't help these – maniacs."

Merrikh turned around to look down at Riku, a cool smile on this transparent skin. It didn't look right, like any form of happiness wasn't use to being on this man's face.

"Now, now, Riku you're being very rude. After all, how do you suspect your friends to find this tiny boat? No, their far more likely to find you on the Vanishing Isle, don't you want to see your friends again? Sa'luk here is merely trying to help."

Merrikh turned to look at Cassim.

"Now then, why don't you reveal this oracle of yours and tell us how to get to the Vanishing Isle?" Cassim didn't respond. Instead he set his jaw in a firm line. Merrikh shook his head. "Pity. Sa'luk, would you refresh his memory."

Sa'luk's eyes flared bright crimson. "Yes, my Lord."

Stepping forward, Sa'luk grabbed Cassim by the throat. Yanking him to his feet and slamming him up against the mast. Cassim began to choke and splutter.

"I guess this all become very simple." Merrikh said coolly. "Either you get us to the Vanishing Isle or I have Sa'luk kill you and Riku. I'm sure I can get a hold of Sora other ways. I could use those two circus freak friends of his. There's always that pretty red-head, or better yet that lovely sister of his."

Riku felt his blood boil. He lunged at Merrikh, flipping over his own body so that his hands were in front of him. Summoning his keyblade, Riku sliced the bonds around his legs and hands.

Several thieves made a grab at him but Riku was able to dodge them or kick them away. Merrikh didn't move as Riku made to tackle him till the last moment. Right as Riku was midair Merrikh raised a hand. Riku froze floating in the air, not able to move a single muscle in his body. There was a strange black heavy fog forming around Merrikh's raised palm. Merrikh looked bored.

"I grow tired of this acting the hero, Riku. You gave in to darkness once before, I don't see why you wouldn't do it again. What angered you, the fact that I threatened your precious friends?"

Merrikh shoved his hand back and Riku was repelled back as well, thrown into several crates and barrels. Two thieves stepped forward to grab Riku.

Cassim was still dangling off the ground, looking desperate. He knew there was no way to beat this man. Finally he gasped out.

"Alright! I'll tell you how to get to the Isle."

….

Sora sat on the front of Carpet looking around, trying to spot the thieves. But flying over the vast ocean it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Sora glanced over at Iago who was still perched on Goofy's shoulder.

"Are you sure they said they were going to be on a boat?"

"Positive!" Iago said seriously. "Besides, Cassim said that the treasure was on the Vanishing Isle. Isle equals island. Island equals water."

Sora nodded in agreement. Aladdin was still staring out over the water when his saw a flash of light. Out of nowhere, about two hundred yards ahead the white figure from the oracle appeared.

"There they are!" Aladdin shouted steering Carpet towards the white light, the Genie carpet right behind him.

"Hold on Dad." Aladdin whispered as the carpet picked up speed. "We're on our way."

The two vessels dove towards the boat. On the deck Sora could see Cassim and Riku; they were now chained together, with ten of the thieves surrounding them. At the prow was Sa'luk, and a man, in a red cloak.

"That's Merrikh!" Enya shouted to Sora and the others over the wind. She kept her blue eyes trained on him, long hair flapping around here by the fierce breeze.

Merrikh looked up at the friends, his own long white hair cracking in the wind. His crimson eyes landing on Sora, and the Keyblade clutched firmly in his fist. Raising a hand, Merrikh clicked his fingers.

Heartless, flying Heartless appeared surrounding the Genie Carpet. Sora leapt to his feet, trying to balance on Carpet in the breeze.

"How are we going get to Riku and Cassim?" Kairi shouted lifting her floral keyblade in both hands in front of her.

Below them the Oracle began to speak.

"The Vanishing Isle will appear at dawn. I will show you the way!" With that she morphed into a streaking light that created a glowing line heading north.

"Great," Donald said smacking one of the Heartless with his staff, "They know how to get to the treasure, and their getting away!" Everyone glanced down to see the boat heading the same direction of the light.

"Sora!" Enya shouted as she skewed a Heartless on one dagger while blocking her side with the other. "You and Aladdin go ahead! We'll handle these punks and catch up!"

"How are you going to do that?" Sora shouted as he sliced at several Heartless that got to close.

"We have a magical Genie don't we!" Jasmine retorted. A Heartless made a grab at her; Jasmine kicked it in the middle of the chest. The stunned Heartless plummeted into the ocean.

"Nice job." Donald said looking at Jasmine surprised.

"There are advantages to being a Princess of Heart." Jasmine said grinning.

Sora, Aladdin, and Goofy hadn't moved yet watching the girls and Donald fight. Enya turned to glare at them.

"Go!" Enya shouted pointing after the boat.

….

The boat came to a stop when the beam of light transformed back into the glowing woman.

"You have arrived." She said before flowing back into the scepter.

Sa'luk looked around but saw nothing; he turned to look at Merrikh who was looking out over the water.

"Master, I don't see anything. Something's wrong."

"No." Merrikh said still looking out over the water. "It's here."

Suddenly the water in front of them began to froth. Waves began to smash into the boat throwing the thieves to the ground, till the only one still standing was Merrikh. From below the surface they could see something rushing to the top. Bursting forth, the Vanishing Isle appeared.

Golden towers and pale marble turrets emerged from the water, surrounding the small boat. There was a sudden crunching noise as the bottom of the boat came in contact with the marble ground on the island. A loud screeching noise came from behind the boat, turning everyone saw a giant scaled head rise from under the water.

"No way…" Riku gasped starring at the giant head.

….

Sora, Aladdin, and Goofy sped towards the island. Each let out a gasp of surprise as they saw a giant head immerging from the water.

"A turtle?" Aladdin said staring. "The Vanishing Isle is on the back of a giant turtle."

"And never in the same place twice…" Sora muttered, remembering what Cassim had said. "Let's get a closer look!"

….

Sa'luk shoved Riku and Cassim roughly off the boat as Merrikh lead the way, his hood raised again. Merrikh turned to look at the two captives, crimson eyes flashing from below his hood.

"Make sure that you capture the keyblade barer, bring him to me." Merrikh started to turn away, but stopped. "Also, I don't care what you do with these two once the boy is captured. Nor do I care what you do to the rest of his friends, except, the sister – the one with long brown hair – I may need her."

With that Merrikh raised a hand over his head and a white mist surrounded him, obscuring him from sight. When the mist dispersed Merrikh had disappeared.

Sa'luk gave a wicked grin to Riku and Cassim. "Looks like my master thinks your usefulness is almost up."

With that Sa'luk gave the two men another rough shove. "Get going!"

As they continued along one of the pathways Riku saw something in his peripheral vision, a shadow moving quickly. Glancing up, Riku saw Sora, Aladdin, and Goofy all on Carpet, skirting behind a dome.

"_Merrikh was right."_ Riku thought furiously. _"Sora's walking right into a trap!"_

Riku couldn't shout to warn Sora, because that would give him away. But he needed to do something.

"_What he needs is a distraction." _Riku thought a cool smile spreading across his lips. _"I can do that."_

With that, Riku dug his elbow back into the thief that was holding him. Grunting the thief let go, clutching at his stomach. Riku's hands were clamped together in metal shackles. Which meant if he summoned his keyblade he wouldn't be able to break through them, the cuffs where to close together. But the attack served its purpose. The other thieves turned to see their comrade still winded on the ground. Shouting in anger the thieves charged Riku.

Using the shackles as a weapon, Riku clobbered half a dozen of the forty thieves over the head, knocking them out. The other thieves that hadn't left the ship surrounded Riku, he tried to keep them all in his sights but it was impossible. Sa'luk still had Cassim by the back of the shirt, glaring daggers at Riku.

As the remaining thieves prepared to attack Riku again, a keyblade whizzed towards them, boomeranging around the circling thieves, taking out half of them. Glancing up Riku saw Sora on the roof of a building right behind him. Sora gave Riku the thumbs up, Riku nodded in reply.

Sa'luk stared in horror.

"What HAPPENED!" Sa'luk let go of Cassim, heading towards Riku. "I'll kill you boy!"

Sa'luk raised his claw fist to attack.

"NOW!" Sora shouted.

With that Aladdin leapt down from the top of an archway knocking into the back of Sa'luk, driving him into the ground. Sa'luk groaned slightly as his head hit the pavement, then he went limp, unconscious.

"Don't you ever try to hurt my father or my friends again!" Aladdin shouted at Sa'luk's prone form.

"Nice job Al!" Sora shouted as he leapt down from the roof. Sora went to Riku as Aladdin headed for Cassim. "Hold on." Sora said, re-summoning his keyblade. Lifting it high, Sora smashed through the shackles around Riku's wrist.

"Thanks." Riku said rubbing his wrist. "I was getting sick of being the captive."

"I bet." Sora said, punching him in the shoulder. "I save your neck…Enya, and Kairi break ya out of prison. Seriously, you're helpless without us."

Riku was about to retort, when he thought of something. "Sora, there's another guy, Merrikh; he's after you for some reason."

"Yeah, I know. Enya, she met him in the stables, Merrikh. He told her that he needed me for something."

"Enya?" Riku said surprised. "She and Kairi weren't thrown into the prison?"

"Nope." Sora said grinning. "They're on their way here actually; there were some Heartless they were taking care of for us."

Aladdin was picking the lock on his father's shackles when he heard shouts. Looking up he saw that the thieves that had remained on the ship had notice their unconscious allies. A dozen thieves leapt from the boat, all heading towards the four men. Goofy, was still on the roof with Carpet. He and Carpet dove from the roof, bowling over a couple thieves. But Carpet over did it and nearly pelted into the side of the boat.

The remaining eight continued to head towards Sora, Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim. What was worse some of the thieves that Riku and Sora had taken out were beginning to stir.

"Incomin'!" A voice from over head shouted. Everyone looked up to see Genie waving at them. Enya, Kairi, Donald, and Jasmine heading straight for them. The four passengers leapt from Genie's back to land in front of Sora, Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim.

"Miss us?" Enya asked looking over her shoulder at Sora.

"Yeah." Sora said earnestly. "I never realized how hard it is to fight without Donald."

Enya would have stuck her tongue out at him but at that moment a thief with a bow shot an arrow at her. Lifting a dagger, Enya blocked the arrow, slicing it in two. Two thieves ran right at Jasmine. When they were close enough, Jasmine leapt into the air, kicking both in the chest, sending one over the railing and into the sea.

Kairi charged a fat thief with a huge club. The thief swung the club at her, leaping in the air Kairi used the club as a spring board. Then as she descended, she bashed the thief over the head.

"Donald?" Sora asked looking at the duck, who looked exhausted. "Are you okay?"

Donald opened his mouth but nothing came out. Instead he slumped to the ground.

"The remaining Heartless were out of our reach." Enya shouted. "They had magic and shot it at us. Jasmine, Kairi, and I couldn't do anything. So, Donald fought all of them from a distance, took a lot out of him."

Cassim noticed something; the water was slowly beginning to rise, or, the island was begging to sink.

"Hurry!" He shouted as Aladdin finished picking the lock. "We have to move quickly if we want to find the treasure."

"We're coming too!" Sora and Riku shouted, following Cassim and Aladdin.

Sora stopped looking at Kairi and Enya, who were finishing up the last few thieve along with Jasmine and Goofy, who had joined the fight.

"Don't worry." Kairi said looking at him. "We'll be there in a second. Go on."

….

Cassim lead the way to the center of the city, glancing side to side.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Riku asked as the four men continued to run throughout the city.

"We're looking for the doorway, the one that will lead to the chamber of Midis." Cassim replied.

"We've pasted a dozen doorways!" Aladdin said running beside Cassim. "How do you know what one is the right one?"

Cassim merely shrugged. "I'll know it when I see it."

Aladdin, Sora, and Riku all exchanged a look, but continued running. They all turned a corner and came to a halt. Right in front of them was a huge golden doorway. A keyhole design was etched into the doorway, along with a crown right in the center.

"I'd say that looks like the door to me." Sora summoned his keyblade, pointing it right at the center of the door, where the crown insignia was.

"Stand back." Sora warned, there was a flash, and a beam of energy left the keyblade, hitting the center of the crown. Nothing happened.

Confused, Sora went up to the door giving it a shove. It didn't move. He threw his whole wait against the door, but it still didn't budge. Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim came to shove against the door as well but it made no difference. The door refused to open.

"Open up already!" Sora said angrily, giving the door a harsh kick, the only result was Sora getting a stubbed toe.

"Great." Riku said giving the door another frustrated shove. "Now what?"

"Hey guys." A voice called from behind them. Everyone turned to see Enya coming up. She gave a quick wave.

Sora saw the daggers still gripped in Enya's hands then looked at the doorway, then back at Enya.

"Enya," Sora said grabbing her wrist and dragging her forward. "I need you!"

"Excuse me!" Enya said digging her heels in to the marble ground. "What are you talking about?"

Sora stopped pulling Enya along. He instead turned her so that she was looking at the doorway. "En, what does that look like to you?"

"Sora," Riku said confused "What are you doing? It looks like a keyhole, because it is a keyhole."

Enya's eyes widened slightly as she stepped forward to get a better look at the design etched into the doorway.

"A keyhole…" Enya said turning to look at the four men. "Or maybe two daggers."

Riku's eyes widened in surprise then he glanced between the daggers and the doorway.

"I think you two are right." He looked at the tiny crown in the middle of the doorway. Looking around something on the ground caught his eye. "Look, right here, a crown, cut into the marble, and there's another one over there."

Riku pointed a little further down the path where another crown had been cut into the pavement.

"Let's give it a try then, shall we?" Cassim said rubbing his hands together. "Enya, stand on the crown closest to the door, raise those daggers above your head. Sora, go stand on the other crown further back. But this time, aim for the crown on the door, through Enya's daggers."

"Got it." The two siblings said in unison. Each took their positions. Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim stood to the side.

"Where did Enya get those daggers?" Aladdin asked Riku quietly as Sora raised his keyblade again.

"I don't really know." Riku replied.

"_They came to her while she was traveling through a passage in the darkness."_ Riku thought, but didn't say anything out loud.

"Why?" Riku asked instead, as a beam of energy burst from the end of Sora's keyblade. It pasted through the two daggers clutched in Enya's hands, over her head. The daggers began to glow slightly.

"Well, this island isn't exactly new. From what I can remember of the stories they use to tell in the market place, it's been vanishing and reappearing for thousands of years. Whoever made those daggers was there when this island was built. And through that, so was whoever made the Keyblade.

Riku stared at Aladdin as the beam of energy finally hit the crown inscribed into the door. With a loud crunching noise the door began to slide up, out of the way. Grinning, Enya dropped her arms and started to walk towards the doorway, but it began to slide back down again.

"What?" Cassim shouted running up to the door. But it was too late, it had already closed again. And it wasn't going to budge.

"Looks like I'm staying out here." Enya said walking back to the marker. "Okay Sora, let's try this again."

Sora raised his Keyblade for a third time. The beam again passing through the daggers to hit the door, it slowly slid up.

Aladdin, Cassim, and Riku stepped forward. Sora dropped his Keyblade slowly but the door continued to rise.

"Okay." Enya said the daggers still above her head. "Looks like the door only stays open as long as I keep the daggers in place. Make this quick okay. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep my arms up, and I don't think the door will open again without the Keyblade."

"Alright." Sora said giving her the thumbs up. He ran over to Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim who were standing in front of the entrance. "Let's go."

….

Kairi slapped her hands together as the last thief was knocked out. Goofy and Jasmine had gone to the boat and grabbed rope; they were now tying each of the thieves up as Donald used his magic to lift them onto the ship.

"That's all of them." Kairi said with a grin, hands on hips. "Thirty-nine thieves down and out."

Kairi turned towards the direction that Sora and the others had gone.

"Let's go find Sora and the others."

"Uh, Kairi." Donald said slowly, turning away from the boat. "There's only thirty-eight."

"Oh no," Jasmine said looking around. "Sa'luk."

….

Cassim lead the way down a set of white marble stairs. At the bottom there was a bright light glowing and as the men stepped into the room, each one let out a gasp.

"Amazing." Cassim whispered looking around in awe.

The room was completely made of gold, with three-dimensional designs of birds and other creatures jutting out of the walls. Five stories up was a glass dome that let in sunlight which was reflecting of every golden surface. And right in the center of the room floating three floors up, was a huge golden hand. Craning their necks back all of them could see a stone statue in the center of the floating golden palm.

"I bet the Hand of Midis is up there." Sora said pointing to the statue.

Looking around he ran over to one of the sculptures that protruded out of the wall. He scrambled up the back of one that looked like an eagle about to take off into flight. Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim quickly followed.

"I wish that I was a bit younger." Cassim huffed as he struggled to climb up the smooth surfaces of the gold. Suddenly he lost his grip and began to fall back.

"Dad!" Aladdin shouted he grabbed Cassim's hand stopping his fall. Gritting his teeth, Aladdin pulled Cassim onto the wing of the eagle. Sora and Riku who were already on the edge of the wing ran back to help pull Cassim to safety.

"Thank you, Son." Cassim panted still sprawled across the wing on his back.

Aladdin smiled. "Anytime, Dad."

Cassim looked over at Aladdin and smiled back. Riku and Sora watched the exchange and grinned at each other. Cassim and Aladdin were finally acting like a father and son.

"C'mon," Riku said pulling Aladdin to his feet, as Sora helped Cassim up. "Let's go get that treasure of yours."

….

Enya stood as still as possible. She groaned slightly, her arms had gone numb five minutes ago and were now starting to ache, but she didn't dare move in case the door closed locking Sora and the others inside.

Then she heard a shout coming from inside the chamber that her brother and his friends had disappeared into.

"Dad!"

"_That's Aladdin!" _Enya thought, staring into the inky blackness of the open door. _"What's going on in there?"_

Enya then heard another noise coming from beside her. There were large pillars that lined the pathway to the Chamber of Midis and the noise seemed to have come from behind one of them.

"Kairi?" Enya asked squinting, trying to see who was hiding behind the pillar. "Is that you?"

Out of the shadows stepped Sa'luk, he grinned wickedly at her.

"Hello there, little girl." Sa'luk hissed, deep red eyes flashing with contempt. "Long time no see."

Enya's eyes widened in horror as Sa'luk charged forward golden claw raised. As he slashed down at her, Enya kicked her leg out catching Sa'luk's fist knocking him slightly to the side. Sa'luk ran at Enya again, and she kicked out once more, this time catching him under the chin.

Enya still didn't lower her arms trying to keep the doorway opened. Sa'luk had fallen to one knee clutching his chin, when he looked up at her his eye's looked like they were on fire.

"You're lucky that my Master wants you alive, brat." Sa'luk spat.

"What?" Enya said surprised but it was too late.

Sa'luk charged again and rammed into Enya from the side, tackling her. Enya dropped the daggers and Sa'luk slammed her into one of the pillars. There was a cracking noise as Enya's skull came in contact with the hard marble.

Enya slumped onto the ground, falling forward, a thin trickle of blood running down her cheek. Sa'luk let out a bark of laughter and ran to the now closing door. Putting on an extra burst of speed he quickly slid under the door before it slammed closed.

As the door closed, a black fog appeared, and out stepped the red cloaked figure, Merrikh. He walked over to Enya, raising a hand Merrikh summoned his long sword, using the tip he flipped over Enya's limp body.

Knelling over her Merrikh studied her face. He pushed away a lock of dark brown hair to get a better look at her pale skinned face. He could almost see Sora in her face.

"You really are his sister aren't you?" Merrikh whispered in a furious voice. "But, are you the other half? I doubt it."

Merrikh straightened, when a flash of light caught his notice. Turning he saw the daggers laying on the ground, sparkling in the fading sunlight. He quickly snatched up one of the daggers examining every inch, of the golden and silver surface.

There was a flash of light and both daggers disappeared, only to reappear in Enya's hands. Merrikh gave a cold, furious smile.

"You never knew when to quit, Sayid, did you?"

With that Merrikh looked out over the ocean. He knew that in a few hours the giant turtle that the island was built on would once again dive below the ocean surface. But, he had no intention of waiting that long. He wanted the Keyblade bearer alive, that was true, but he wanted this girl dead just as much.

"I'm not willing to take that chance." Merrikh whispered to himself. "And I'll get Sora, myself. Sa'luk, I'm afraid your usefulness has expired."

Merrikh gripped his sword more firmly. Spinning the blade around and around, the black fog came from Merrikh's palms. It seeped into the sword only to emit from the point of the blade, stronger and darker than before.

Pointing the sword out at the ocean, the black fog rushed out over the water only to pull the water towards the island. Merrikh had begun to sink the entire island.

….

Sora, Aladdin, Cassim, and Riku were now level with the floating golden hand in the center of the Chamber of Midis. Taking a closer look at the statue, it almost looked like the ghostly figure inside the oracle. However, where the rest of the statue seemed to be made of a dark stone, its right hand was made of pure gold.

"That's it!" Cassim exclaimed gripping Aladdin's shoulder. "That's the hand of Midis! We did it boy."

Cassim shook his head slightly, as if trying to make sure it wasn't all a dream. He then backed up slightly prepping to leap across.

"I just wish I'd found this place a long time ago." He said bending his knees more. "This would be much easier if I was much younger."

But before he could leap across, Sora gave a running jump, and came to an unsteady landing on the floating hand. He gave a grinning wave.

"You coming," Sora shouted to the others. "Or are you just goin' stand there?"

Aladdin and Riku looked at each other and then both took a flying leap, landing on the still suspended hand. Cassim began to run forward when suddenly the entire building shook furiously. Sora, Riku, and Aladdin all fell to their knees. Cassim stumbled back, nearly falling off the eagle statue.

"What happened?" Riku asked getting to his feet.

"Look!" Aladdin shouted leaning over the edge of the palm. Water began rushing through holes that were built into every side of the room. They were too small for a person to fit through, but not too small for the flood of water to come rushing in.

"The turtle must be diving!" Cassim shouted struggling to stand. "We must hurry! Grab the hand, but whatever you do don't touch the golden hand itself, grab the hilt!"

Sora turned to look at the golden hand, there was less than an inch of the wooden handle showing.

"And what happens if we do touch the actual hand?" Sora called back feeling nervous.

"You'll turn to gold." Cassim said humorlessly.

"Great." Riku muttered, looking back at the golden hand. Not wanting to risk it, Riku summoned his keyblade, he quickly stripped off his white and yellow stripped vest, leaving only his black zipped undershirt. Using his keyblade Riku cut out the lining inside his vest.

As Riku put his vest back on, he handed the material to Aladdin.

"Wrap it around your hand to protect it." Riku explained.

Aladdin nodded wrapping the material around his hand; using his teeth he tightened the material around his wrist. Sora and Riku watched as Aladdin approached the statue slowly. Carefully as he possibly could, Aladdin gripped the handle of the golden hand. As he began to pull the hand of Midis out, Aladdin's own hand slipped slightly up.

Everyone watched in amazement as the material around Aladdin's hand suddenly turned to pure gold.

"It's really true." Aladdin said in a surprised tone. Licking his dry lips, Aladdin untied the now glittering material from around his wrist and wrapped it around their treasure.

"Heads up." Aladdin shouted to Cassim who was still standing on the other side of the chasm. As Aladdin threw the hand of Midis over to his father something caught Riku's attention. Climbing up the wall was a grey silhouette of Sa'luk. With a quite snarl, Sa'luk lunged across the gap.

"Look out!" Riku shouted summoning his keyblade. Sora and Aladdin turned just in time to see Sa'luk tuck and roll onto the giant floating pedestal. Cassim ran forward but again the island began to shake, and the water began to rise even faster.

"Sa'luk!" Cassim shouted over the rushing water. "You're battles with me!"

"My master wants the youngest brat," Sa'luk said advancing slowly on the three friends. He pointed a finger at Sora. "And with the Hand of Midis I will be the most powerful man in all of the Arabian Deserts. All the treasures I could ever want."

"What does Merrikh want?" Sora asked angrily, summoning his Keyblade. "What does he want me for?"

"I don't know, but I do know this," Sa'luk said raising his clawed fist. "Merrikh said that he wanted you alive, but you know what? I might just slip up."

With that Sa'luk attacked, red eyes flashing in the golden light. Aladdin met him halfway, his dagger blocking Sa'luk's attack. Sora ran forwards as well but Sa'luk caught him across the chest with his fist, sending him flying back, crashing into the statue.

Riku leapt into the air, swiping his keyblade down at Sa'luk's head. Seeing Riku coming Sa'luk shoved Aladdin back and raised his clawed fist over head, trying to slice Riku in half. Instead, Riku brought his keyblade down at the junction. Then, grabbing Sa'luk's arm Riku flipped behind Sa'luk's back.

Sa'luk's arm was pinned behind his back. Struggling he let out a bellow of anger, there was a loud cracking noise as Sa'luk's arm broke. Sora ran forward his keyblade raised, Sa'luk's good arm did not have any claws to defend himself with, so he punched out at Sora. Sora was able to get out of the way and swiped the keyblade under Sa'luk's legs; he fell backward onto his knees. Sora advanced again, but Sa'luk grabbed the front of Sora's shirt and threw him, with his good arm, towards the edge of the floating palm. Sora hit the golden surface and rolled over the edge.

Riku ran over to where Sora had disappeared from view. Leaning over the edge, Riku saw Sora dangling, clutching to one of the golden palms fingers. Reaching down Riku grabbed Sora's wrist starting to pull him up.

During this time, Sa'luk advanced on Aladdin.

"Give me the Hand of Midis Cassim, or your son dies!" Sa'luk shouted at Cassim.

"He's insane!" Riku grunted as he continued to pull Sora up. "He broke his own arm trying to kill us!"

"Yeah well," Sora huffed as he finally got a better grip on the floating hand. "His eyes use to be yellow too. This has to be Merrikh."

Riku nodded in agreement as he finally got Sora back on the surface.

At that moment Merrikh appeared behind Cassim. Cassim turned around at the sudden stench of brimstone. Lightning fast Merrikh grabbed the Hand of Midis and threw Cassim with one hand across the gap and onto the floating hand.

"I'm disappointed slave." Merrikh said. Unwrapping, the Hand of Midis, he continued. "I'm afraid that you've lost your value. After all, you've tried to kill the Keyblade barer when I told you to bring him to me alive. But, I give you a gift, the Hand of Midis, as promised."

With that Merrikh threw the golden hand towards Sa'luk. Reaching out Sa'luk caught the Hand of Midis midair.

"Finally," Sa'luk shouted the golden hand up in victory. "The Hand of Midis is mine!"

He let out a bellow of victory which suddenly turned into a groan of agony. For, Sa'luk was gripping, not the hilt, but the glittering golden palm. Before everyone's eyes a stream of gold spread up Sa'luk's arm, then, across his chest then finally Sa'luk's entire body was incased in gold.

The golden statue of Sa'luk was close to the edge of the floating palm, and toppled over and fell with a loud splash into the rising waters.

"What did you do?" Sora shouted at Merrikh. "Why'd you kill him?"

"Why? Because he'd lost his value, Sora, and he tried to kill you." Merrikh said, brushing some inexistent dirt off his robe.

That surprise Sora, he stepped closer to the edge. "I thought you'd want me dead?"

"My boy," Merrikh said coolly. "What good are you to me dead? No, I wanted him to bring you to me, but, now you're here, without any way of escaping me. I wanted to offer you a chance, a onetime chance. Come with me, leave everything and everyone you care about behind, and I'll let your friends return to your precious little island, unharmed.

There was a pause then a wicked grin spread across Merrikh's face. "Well, mostly unharmed. However, if you don't do as I command I promise you, that you and your friend's lives will be filled with utter misery."

Sora stared at Merrikh in utter shock. He knew what that what this man was asking for was insane. Sora, knew that he could never just follow this man, after all, Sora had seen Enya's reaction to just the mention of Merrikh, she looked terrified. But, for some reason that Sora couldn't understand, he wanted to comply. He wanted to do what this man said.

"Sora," Riku said, his voice sounding distant to Sora. Riku shook his friends shoulder firmly. "Sora, snap out of it."

"H-huh?" Sora said shaking his head slightly. He looked over at Merrikh and set his jaw. "Why, would I come with you after you set Heartless on my sister and my friends? Forget it!"

Merrikh shook his head slightly, as if disappointed. "Shame, you had so much potential. After all, you are the connection between our worlds. You are the one, the one with the power over Kingdom Hearts."

"What?" Riku and Sora said staring at Merrikh. He continued speaking as if they had not interrupted.

" However, I could have surmised as much. You're just like your predecessors, stubborn – pigheaded." Merrikh turned; summoning his sword he spun it around, opening a doorway through darkness. "Well, you've chosen your own demise and that of your friends.

As Merrikh stepped through the doorway, he turned back to look at Sora and the others. "By the way, if you see Enya before you die, give her my regards – that's – if she's still alive."

"What did you do to her?" Riku shouted pointing his keyblade at Merrikh, but it was too late. Merrikh had disappeared.

"Merrikh!" Sora shouted at where Merrikh had been standing. "Merrikh!"

"Sora, Riku, calm down," Cassim said grabbing Riku's shoulder. "I'm sure she's fine. Right now we need to worry about how to get out of here. The door we came through is underwater; we need to find another way to get out."

Everyone looked around but no one saw a single door, then a flash of light shun in Riku's eye. Blinking, he raised his hand to shield the light from his face, looking up, he gave a quick smile. He tapped Sora on the shoulder, and pointed up at the huge glass dome above.

"Going up?" Riku asked.

Sora nodded then turned to Aladdin and Cassim. "Guys! We know how we're getting out of here."

Riku reeled his arm back, and threw his keyblade up towards the glass dome, two stories up. It shattered one of the huge panels of glass. Then, re-summoning his keyblade Riku leapt into the air and sliced the huge falling panel of glass in half before it could crush everyone.

"What was that about being helpless without you, Sora?" Riku said smirking. Sora smirked back and the two friends, fist bumped before they both dove into the water, which by now had risen to the same level as the giant floating palm. Aladdin and Cassim followed suit, diving into the rising waters.

The four men swam over to one of the walls and all began to climb as quickly as they could up towards the hole in the dome. Riku was the fastest and pulled himself out onto the roof top, breathing in the salty sweet air of the ocean. Turning back to the opening Riku saw Sora crawl out onto the roof then Aladdin. Walking back to the dome Riku helped Aladdin pull Cassim up onto the roof.

"I don't see any of the others." Sora said, looking out over the island. "They could be anywhere."

Riku, Cassim and, Aladdin all came to stand next to Sora, searching for any sign of their friends. None of them could see anyone, not even the remaining forty thieves.

"I'm sorry." Cassim groaned under his breath. "This is all my fault. I'm the reason you're all out here, and for what? A fool's treasure."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Sora said, a devious smile spreading across his face. From inside one of the red packs that hung around his waist Sora pulled out a package, wrapped in gold material. Unwrapping it, to reveal the Hand of Midis.

"Sora," Riku said looking at the hand in surprise. "How'd you get that? I thought that Sa'luk was still holding it when he turned to gold."

"Nope," Sora said holding the glittering palm out to Cassim. "He dropped it at the last minute. It was just lying there, so I figured…"

"Dad," Aladdin said slowly. "Go ahead and take it. After all these years you finally have your treasure."

Cassim hesitated, and then carefully took a hold of the handle, holding up the golden hand. His shook his head slightly.

"This thing?" Cassim said slowly, holding up the hand so that everyone could see. "No. This wretched thing almost cost me the ultimate treasure."

With that Cassim walked up to Aladdin and wrapped his arms around him holding him tight. "You, Aladdin, are my ultimate treasure. I'm just sorry it took me this long to see that."

Aladdin held onto his father tight for a moment then, they broke apart. Cassim walked back to the edge of the dome. Looking down into the frothing water Cassim held the Hand of Midis over the open dome, and then dropped it into the inky blackness.

All four watched as the golden hand fell into the rising waters. There was a sudden rumble and the entire island shook again.

"We need to get outta here." Sora said stumbling slightly, as the Island shook once more.

Then they all heard voices from above.

"Sora! Riku!"

Then there were other voices.

"Sora, c'mon we gotta go!"

"Aladdin, hurry please!"

Everyone looked up to see Jasmine, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Iago all on the Genie carpet. Kairi whistled, and Carpet came whizzing down, floating at knee level. Aladdin and Cassim quickly climbed on but Sora and Riku hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Goofy asked.

"Where's Enya?" Sora asked suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

"We thought that she was with you." Kairi said looking at the two boys.

"No." Riku said starring out towards where the doorway had been.

….

Enya was still sprawled across the marble floor. She took in a deep breath and instead of breathing in air, Enya inhaled water. Startling out of the daze, Enya sat up, spluttering.

On her knees, Enya could see that water was spilling over the railing and pouring down the long path way.

"_The island is sinking!" _Enya thought wildly. Standing quickly Enya cursed under her breath as her head began to pound, clutching at her head she felt a huge lump on the back of her head. Pulling her hand back, Enya saw the blood on her hand.

"That's not good." Enya muttered feeling dizzy. The water was still rising, and was now up to her knees.

Enya looked at the doorway and saw that it was closed. She ran over and began to pound her fist against the stone door. Everything was slightly fuzzy around the edges.

"Sora! Riku!" Enya screamed, trying to pry the door open. "Are you in there? Guys!"

Enya heard a noise in the distance.

"Enya!" The voice was faint but she could tell that it was Sora's voice, and that it wasn't coming from behind the stone doorway

"Sora?" Enya said, sloshing through the now waist high water. "Sora, where are you?"

Now looking out over the railing, Enya tried to see where Sora's voice was coming from.

"_Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought_." Enya felt dazed, stumbling away.

"Enya!" Sora's voice called out again, and it was coming from behind her. Turning around Enya looked up into the sky to see Sora, Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim all on Carpet – and all hurtling towards her.

"En, hold on." Riku shouted he was sitting at the front of Carpet along with Sora.

"R-Riku?" Enya muttered, her vision losing the fuzziness just a bit. She stepped forward slightly, the water now mid-chest. At that moment Carpet was now flying level with Enya. Riku thrust his arm out, catching Enya around the waist and yanking her up onto Carpet in front of him.

As they flew on Enya clutched at Riku, trying to stay on Carpet and soaked through. Riku held onto her as best he could, when what Cassim had said on the way back to the thieves' lair came back to him.

"_Well, if not Kairi, what about your friends sister, Enya?"_

Riku shook his head surprised, he'd never thought of Enya as anymore then a friend, and he had no intention of that changing. He pulled away slightly and slid back on Carpet, just enough to give Enya enough room to sit between him and Sora.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked looking at Enya worriedly.

"What, you kiddin'," Enya said rubbing the back of her head slightly. "It'll take more than those guys to get rid of me."

At that moment Genie flew down next to them, carrying his passengers.

"Let's go home." Aladdin said staring at Jasmine. "I think we have some unfinished business."

….

Aladdin and Jasmine stood facing each other under the pavilion. Jasmine wrapped her arms around Aladdin neck, their lips finally coming together as a married couple. The room burst into applause, Sora, Donald, and Goofy grinned at each other. The Sultan slapped Riku on the back, jumping up and down in the air. Riku had been allowed to come back to Agrabah after the Sultan had heard that it was because of Riku, who found their way out of the Chamber, that he now had his Son-in-law.

Enya and Kairi high-fived as Aladdin and Jasmine started to walk down the aisle, for the first time as man and wife. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed behind them as the crowd started to disperse. Riku watched Enya and Kairi giggling follow Sora and the others out when he saw a shadow move.

Following the movement Riku silently slunk around a pillar to see Cassim hiding, watching his son.

"Hey, Cassim." Riku said leaning against the pillar, arms crossed. "You must be proud."

"I am." Cassim replied with a nod. "He'll make a wonderful husband, and an even better father. Better than I ever was."

"I dunno about that." Riku said watching Aladdin and Jasmine climb onto Carpet. Sora, Enya, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were all waving as they sped off. "I think Aladdin's happy he found you. I bet he'd be even happier if he knew that you were here."

"He saw me while he walked by." Cassim said walking to the edge of the balcony. "Besides, even a wanted man can risk a little to see his only son marry."

"So, you're in the clear," Cassim continued glancing back at Riku who was still leaning against the pillar. When Riku nodded Cassim smiled slightly. "I'm glad. Riku, I am sorry that my obsession dragged you down with me. It just goes to show that your obsessions affect others."

"It's fine, Cassim." Riku said, standing and gripping Cassim's hand firmly. As Cassim continued to walk away something crossed Riku's mind. "Hey, Cassim. What did you mean about me and Enya?"

Cassim turned around looking confused. "What?"

"What you said about me and Kairi," Riku said. "Then about me and Enya. What did you mean about that?"

"Oh that," Cassim said smiling again. This time he watched Enya who was now talking to Sora and laughing. "I only noticed how much she seemed to care about you. You were acting strangely when we got back, now I realize it was because you didn't trust me (and rightfully so) when you walked off, Enya immediately went after you. She might not care for you **that** way, or you for her, but I'll tell you this, my boy – that girl cares about you very much. Think about all she risked to get you out of that prison."

Riku could only stare at Cassim for a moment, and then he looked over his shoulder at Enya. When Riku turned back to speak to Cassim, he was no longer there. Instead, Riku heard the whiny of a horse below. Looking over the edge of the balcony, Riku saw a blue hooded figure galloping out over the desert sands.

"Riku?" Turning around Riku saw Enya walking up to him smiling. "What are you looking at?"

"N-nothing." Riku murmured.

"Well, Kairi caught the bouquet." Enya grinned hopping up, and sitting on the railing of the balcony, looking up at the stars. "Of course she was standing next to Sora, so that led to a huge blushing fest. I thought I'd let them have their moment and find you."

Riku kept looking at Enya for a moment, a sudden breeze caught both their hair. Enya's long brown hair fanned out behind her, her skin looked palest white in the moonlight. Enya stopped looking at the stars and looked at Riku, with bright, electric blue eyes.

"What?" Enya asked noticing that Riku was staring at her.

Riku merely shrugged, running a hand through his own long silver hair, teal eyes looking anywhere but at Enya.

"C'mon," Riku said gruffly. "We better go find the others."

As Riku walked away, to Enya's horror she felt her cheeks flush slightly. Shaking her head slightly Enya brushed it off and quickly followed after her friend. Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were near the palace gateway. Both Enya and Riku noticed that both Sora's and Kairi's cheeks were still slightly red. Riku punched Sora lightly on the shoulder, making Sora rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"We better go." Donald said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Sora and Enya got into position. Enya summoned her daggers and Sora summoned the Kingdom Key. The daggers floated out of Enya's hands to form the keyhole. Sora pointed the keyblade right towards the middle. In a flash of light, all the friends disappeared, into their next adventure.


	6. Castel of Dreams A Twist in Time

**I know that this chapter is really late; I don't set dates when chapters are going to be out, but I was hoping to be done with it a lot quicker than this. I'm a senior in high school this year so I'm gonna be pretty busy with school and finding a good college and all that jazz. Any who, thanks as ever to all my readers and ****to Taeniaea and Shifuni****for the reviews!**

**CHAPTER 5: Castel of Dreams – A Twist in Time**

Everyone was crammed into the gummi ship again, Sora was steering.

"So, where to now," Kairi asked staring out the window. "What world needs us first?"

Sora shrugged, looking out the window. Enya could tell that her brother's mind was somewhere else. She walked up to his chair; Sora was still looking out the windshield, his brows furrowed. Enya ruffled Sora's light brown, spiky, hair. Blinking, Sora glanced up at Enya, she smiled down at him.

"No fair Sora, where'd you go?" Enya said kneeling down so she was eye level with her brother.

"Nowhere," Sora said, confused. "I'm right here."

"Well, you seem a million miles away." Enya said, smirking slightly. "What's on your mind, Sora?"

"It's nothing…" Sora murmured, sighing he looked up at Enya. "Well, it's just that we usually have to fight Heartless while we're flying around out here. I just don't understand why we haven't seen any yet, that's all."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Riku said, crammed up against the back wall.

"It's not," Sora stated quickly looking over his shoulder at his best friend. "It's just kinda weird that's all."

"Well no matter what, I'm not complaining." Donald said fervently. There was a sudden red, flashing, light that filled the small compartment. The entire gummi ship shook violently. Everyone stared out of the windows to see several metal ships with the heartless insignia on their fronts, each ship shooting lasers at them.

"Way to jinx it, Sora." Riku said as the ship was hit again, shaking the whole hull again.

Sora didn't have time to respond. He quickly pushed the trigger, returning fire, taking down one of the ships. But as soon as one went down another flew forward, pelting the small gummi ship with laser burst. Right in front of them was a huge Heartless craft, it was easily five times bigger than the friend's gummi ship, and it was coming straight at them.

Gritting his teeth, Sora yanked back on the steering, pulling the ship into a steep incline. Unfortunately, the small craft was meant for three people, and they'd doubled that. Sora, Kairi, and Donald were all buckled into the three seats but Enya, Goofy, and Riku didn't fair quite as well. Enya had to dig her fingers into Sora's armrest to avoid falling towards the back of the ship. Goofy, couldn't get a firm grip on anything and tumbled backwards and smashed into Riku.

When Sora finally straightened out the gummi ship, Enya's nails had left deep claw marks in the armrest and she was looking slightly green.

"Please, don't do that again." She said weakly.

"Hopefully I won't have to." Sora said letting off another quick burst of lasers at an attacking ship. He managed to strike the wing, which sent it veering into another ship. Both went down in flames.

"Nice shot Sora!" Kairi shouted. There wasn't much time for celebrating when a Heartless ship's laser shot right into the engine of the gummi ship. Red lights and sirens went off like crazy.

"Sora, we gotta land!" Goofy shouted. He gripped the back of Donald's chair.

"Where?" Sora shouted, trying to find a place to land, while continuing to keep the ship flying as best he could, and attacking Heartless.

"There!" Kairi shouted pointing out a side window. Below was a world, the problem was Sora didn't recognize it.

"What world is that?" Sora asked staring down; another round of attacks shook the ship.

"Who cares?" Enya shouted staring to feel extremely nauseous from the flipping and pivoting of the ship. "Let's just get out of here!"

As Sora reached out to hit the ejection button, another ship rammed into their side, making his hand slammed down hard on not only the ejection button but several others. The gummi ship bucked wildly, spinning in circles before flipping upside down. One of the buttons Sora had accidently hit was the seatbelt release and as Enya, Goofy, and Riku slammed into the glass dome of the gummi ship, Sora, Donald, and Kairi crashed on top of them. There was a slight hissing noise, and the dome slowly slid open. All six friends fell towards the world below.

….

Everyone fell through dense foliage towards the ground, crashing and snapping branches of trees as they went. Sora, twisted his body as he fell, till he was right side up. Reaching out he grabbed a hold of a higher branch with one hand. Using it as leverage he leapt lightly to another lower branch, then another till he landed on the ground with a thud.

Looking up, Sora saw Riku flip himself over at the last second, so that he landed feet first on the ground. He tucked and rolled then straightened, smirking at Sora. As Enya fell, she quickly grabbed a branch with both hands, swinging her body slightly; she flung herself over the two boys head and landed lightly on her feet, grinning.

"Show off." Sora muttered. He turned to look back up, only to be hit in the chest with an apple. "Hey!"

Looking up into the tree, Sora saw Kairi, standing on one of the lower branches holding another apple. Taking a bite she let it drop then, with a running start, leapt off the branch only to flip over in the air several times and land in front of Sora barely making a sound.

"Yeah," Enya said hands on hips, laughing. "I'm the show off."

Everyone else laughed as well, just like old times. Then, Sora noticed something.

"Hey," Sora said looking around. "Where's Donald and Goofy?"

Everyone else stopped laughing to look around as well, but no one saw their other comrades. That is, till Riku looked up into the trees. He couldn't help but smirk again.

"Found them." He said, pointing up into the apple tree.

There, Donald and Goofy hung both upside down, caught in the tree by their clothing. Goofy had a dumb grin on his face as he happily munched on an apple. Donald looked furious, arms crossed.

"Hang on guys!" Sora shouted up at his friends. "Don't move! I'll get ya down."

"Where're they gonna go?" Riku asked sarcastically, as Sora summoned his keyblade.

Pulling his arm back, Sora whipped the keyblade up into the tree. It boomeranged through the branches, chomping through the ones that were holding up Donald and Goofy. With a loud crunching noise both of them came toppling towards the ground and both landed right on top of Sora.

"Way to cushion their fall, little brother." Enya laughed as she pulled Sora out from underneath Donald and Goofy.

"So, where are we?" Sora asked rubbing his head slightly.

"Not a clue." Enya said, looking around. "Not that I know any of the worlds really, still kinda new to this. I was hoping that you'd recognize it once we landed."

Sora shook his head, then he saw bright glittering lights flashing through the brushes, walking over to where the light was coming from Sora peered over several bushes to an open meadow with a gazebo. The polls were all covered with large yellow roses. The others followed Sora as he climbed through the bushes and stood on the side of the flowering meadow. Standing in the center of the gazebo was an older woman. Her white hair poked out from under her light blue robe. A large pink bow was tied under her chin and her big black eyes sparkled as she waved a long, thin, white stick through the air, the large, yellow roses emitting from the end.

"It's Fairy Godmother!" Sora shouted, surprised. At the sound of her name Fairy Godmother turned around to see Sora. She looked at him for a moment, then her warm black eyes widened in surprise.

"Is that you, Sora?" Fairy Godmother asked in a surprised tone. She scurried down the stairs to get a better look at Sora. "It is you, I didn't recognize you! You've grown up so much."

"Thank you Ma'am." Sora said, slightly embarrassed. Looking around Sora saw two little mice standing on the table. Both had a tiny outfit and a hat. One was plumb while the other was thin. As they watched, the two mice gave a quick wave and then began to clean plates that were sitting on a table in the middle of the gazebo.

"I never got a chance to thank you." Fairy Godmother continued. "It was because of you – and Donald and Goofy, too, of course – that mine and Cinderella's world has returned to light."

"This is Cinderella's world?" Sora said in wonder.

"Oh yes," Fairy Godmother said as she continued to wave her wand around. This time the magic formed a large layered cake with white frosting and yellow frosted flowers. "In fact, Cinderella is on her way her as we speak. It's her first wedding anniversary today. Thanks to you three, she made it just in time to meet the Grand Duke and meet her Prince again."

At that moment Cinderella and a man, came riding up side-by-side. Cinderella didn't look all that different from when Sora, Donald, and Goofy, had first seen her in the castle at Hollow Bastion, when the world had been taken over by darkness. She still had the same dark blonde, shoulder length hair, the same blue eyes, and the same ever present smile.

The man that had been accompanying Cinderella smiled warmly at Cinderella, who smiled back as they pulled their horses to a stop.

The Prince leapt from his horse then helped Cinderella down from her own mount. As the two walked up, holding hands Cinderella eyes widened slightly when she saw everyone standing there. She smiled again when she saw Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the others standing together.

"Sora, is that you?" Cinderella said in a lilting tone. "What are you doing here?"

"Our ship was attacked and this was the first world that we could reach." Riku replied.

"That's terrible." Cinderella gasped looking at all the friends. "I hope you're all alright."

"We're fine," Sora stated quickly. "Our ship on the other hand…not so much."

"Don't worry dearies," Fairy Godmother stated rolling up her sleeves. "I'll fix your ship in a jiffy, then you and your friends can leave whenever you wish. By the way who are your friends Sora? I only know you, Donald, and Goofy."

"Oh, right." Sora said, turning he faced his friends pointing at each one as he introduced them. "This is Enya, Riku, and Kairi."

"I remember you." Cinderella said slowly looking between Riku and Kairi. "Kairi, your one of the other princesses of Heart, aren't you? You're like me."

"Yes, I am." Kairi said slowly tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She was still getting use to the idea of being a princess.

"And Riku…" Cinderella said, tilting her head slightly. "Why do you look so familiar?"

"_Probably because you remember me helping Maleficent kidnap you when Ansem took over my body."_ Riku thought bitterly, but he didn't say anything.

Sora was about to say something to cover the awkward silence when there was a loud cracking noise. Looking up everyone saw several Heartless and Nobodies leaping from behind bushes and from treetops. One nearly landed on Cinderella but the Prince leapt forward and pulled her out of the way.

Sora and the others quickly summoned their weapons. Sora recognized the types of Heartless and Nobodies in front of him. The Heartless mostly consisted of Armored Knights, the humanoid Heartless was clad from head to toe in black and silver armor. They all had spherical, pitch-black head and glowing, yellow eyes visible from inside the helmet. They also carried swords. The Nobodies on the other hand were Berserkers. They were as big as Sora remembered with huge T-shaped weapon, easily twice as tall as Sora. Their armor looked thick and it covered every surface of the Nobodies.

The Armored Knights attacked first, swords low to the ground. Sora and the others charged forward. Riku – being the fastest – met the Heartless first. He quickly stabbed one Knight through, his keyblade making a grating noise as is pierced through the armor, in a burst of blackness the Heartless was swallowed by darkness. Pivoting Riku whipped his keyblade down again, this time across the back of a knight that had started to slip passed. As another attacked Riku slid sideways, then with a crunch, brought the Way to Dawn down on the knight's helmeted head.

Sora ran straight through the Armored Knights, slicing his Keyblade through them as he went making each disappear into the darkness. One of the Berserkers hefted its giant T-shaped sword over its head. Sora leapt into the air, gripping the giant weapon with one hand Sora used it to propel himself towards the Berserkers head, Sora's feet came in contact with the Berserkers helmet with a loud crunching, sending it sprawling backwards. Gripping the T-sword firmly, Sora flipped himself over in the air, bashing the Nobody with its own weapon. As another approached, Sora merely spun through the air again, smashing the Berserker in the middle of the chest.

Donald and Enya had been swarmed by several Armored knights and a few Berserkers. Donald gripped his staff firmly, and when an armored knight advanced Donald released a burst of flames from his staff, melting the armor of the knight with its intense heat.

Enya turned to face a Berserker, she threw a dagger at it, piercing it in its armored chest. Running forward she yanked it out before slicing it again, causing it to disappear into darkness. She turned and dashed forward towards one of the armored knights, ducking as it slashed its sword down towards her. Rolling slightly Enya stuck one of her daggers into the Knights side. However, as it disappeared and Enya stood, one of the remaining Berserkers swung its T weapon right at her, catching her in across the middle of the chest. Enya was thrown backwards, and crashed into the gazebo roof.

"Okay, that's it." Enya growled as she dislodged herself from the shingles. Leaping off the roof Enya hurled herself onto the back of the Nobody that thrown her, stabbing it in the back with both daggers. Still holding onto the daggers Enya leapt to the ground, then with a fierce kick she sent the Nobody crashing forward into several Heartless crushing them all.

Kairi was being chased by several armored knights, as she ran by Goofy sprinted forward, ramming into several of the knights bowling them over with his shield and smashing them into one of the many trees. Kairi kept running as more armored knights continued to chase her. Turning at the last minute Kairi brought her keyblade down across the shoulder of one of the knights, unfortunately her keyblade stuck in the armor, that didn't stop the others from attacking. Kairi back flipped several times to avoid being hacked to death. As Kairi took out another Armored knight, Sora who was still holding the T-shaped sword of the Berserker came to Kairi's aid bashing the remaining Heartless into the ground.

When at last the Heartless and Nobodies were gone the meadow went silent. Everyone stood looking around at the damage that had been created. The Prince and Cinderella emerged from their hiding place, the two mice Jag and Gus peeked out from one of her pockets, while Fairy Godmother emerged from behind another tree.

"Everyone okay?" Sora asked looking around. Everyone nodded quickly.

"Sorry, about your gazebo." Enya said slowly, picking a piece of shingle out of her hair. Everyone turned to look up at the gazebo roof; the whole front had been obliterated.

"Don't worry dearie," Fairy Godmother said rolling up her sleeves. "I'll rebuild it in a jiff-"

Godmother paused for a second; she pulled back her sleeves even further. She looked around the ground wildly.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

"My wand," Fairy Godmother said patting down the pockets of her robe. "Where's my wand?"

….

Not far from where Sora and the others were, was a large house, it had once been the home where Cinderella had lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters. The house had once been beautiful but now that Cinderella was gone, it was in shambles.

The two stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, were in the kitchen, bickering.

"I did the dishes yesterday!" Drizella shouted folding her arms.

"The dishes haven't been done in TWO WEEKS!" Anastasia hollered back, pointing a dirty spoon at her threateningly. "So don't give me any of that!"

"You want the dishes done," Drizella screeched grabbing a pile of filthy dishes. "Then YOU do them!"

With that Drizella dropped the dishes on the ground making them shatter, and pieces of china flew in a million directions. Anastasia gritted her teeth in anger then reached a hand into the dirty scrubbing water and fished out a chipped teacup, reeling her arm back Anastasia let the porcelain fly toward her sister. Drizella ducked out of the way and both sisters charged each other.

Drizella tearing at Anastasia's pink dress, Anastasia ripping out tuffs of Drizella's black hair, both trying to kill the other. At that moment their mother, Lady Tremaine, entered the room looking furious. Dark green eyes flashed, as she peered over her hooked nose at her daughters.

"GIRLS!" Tremaine shouted over the noise of her daughters screams. Both girls ceased their battling immediately, looking up at their mother. Anastasia and Drizella stood, Anastasia quickly fixing her red hair while Drizella ran a hand over the wrinkled front of her green dress.

"I will not listen to this constant bickering in my home." Lady Tremaine said coldly, gripping her cane firmly. "I will have order! Now, go and chop firewood to heat my rooms."

"But mother!" Both girls interjected.

"NOW!" Lady Tremaine shouted before slamming the door again. Drizella picked up the rusting axe from the corner and thrust it into Anastasia's hands.

"You heard mother," Drizella said sneering. "Go and chop wood."

"But she told _**us**_ to chop the wood." Anastasia said horrified. "Besides, I don't know how to chop firewood; Cinderella always did all the chores."

"Well there's a first time for everything." Drizella said. With that she opened the door and with a hefty shove sent Anastasia stumbling outside. Anastasia stared at the door for a moment before walking over to the large logs that needed to be cut down. Anastasia could barely lift the axe let alone chop any wood. Once, she was able to heave the axe over her head only to be thrown off balance and topple backwards.

"Oof." Anastasia grunted as she sat up slowly, she let out a sigh. From here she could see the towers of the castle; there Cinderella and the Prince now lived.

"I want what you have, Cinderella." Anastasia whispered still looking at the castle. Suddenly, Anastasia heard a cold chuckle coming from behind her. With a gasped she whirled around to see a tall figure standing, just along the tree line.

"My, my, my how the mighty have fallen." The man said stepping forward; his long white hair blew around his alabaster face, red eyes flashing. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Merrikh – and I can make all your dreams come true – for a price."

"What's taking so long?" Drizella whined from inside the house she came outside, followed by her mother. Both stopped midstride when they saw Merrikh standing in the yard.

"You must be Lady Tremaine." Merrikh said bowing slightly and there was a mocking sense in that bow. "I believe that you have fallen into some difficult times. I'm here to make everything better." The corner of Merrikh's lip curled up slightly.

"And how, my I ask, do you plan on accomplishing that?" Lady Tremaine said in a biting tone.

"With this." With that, Merrikh reached into the sleeve of his cloak and produced a long, thin, piece of white wood.

"A stick?" Tremaine said coldly a smirk on her face.

"Not quite." Merrikh said. His lips still curled slightly. "This, my lady, is a magic wand, and I – in this case – am your fairy godfather." The wicked grin on Merrikh's face grew and his crimson eyes flashed.

"You're our fairy godfather?" Anastasia said, eyes widening. "So, you could give us whatever we wanted, anything in the world?"

"Anything," Merrikh said, twirling the wand between long fingers. "There is only one price. I will give you, this magic wand – allowing you to have every dream you ever had come true – if you do something for me."

"Don't believe a word he says," Drizella said sticking her tongue out at Merrikh. "He's crazy – and so are you Anastasia if you think that little stick is magic. Besides if it was really magic, why wouldn't he just use it himself?"

"I don't enjoy dirtying my own hands." Merrikh said with contempt.

Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia started towards the house when Merrikh called out in a cool voice. "Perhaps a demonstration?"

The three women turned to see Merrikh looking over his shoulder. He stepped further into the center of the yard and turned to face the woods. They all heard the snapping of twigs and a few moments later Fairy Godmother came stumbling into the clearing. When she saw her wand clutched in Merrikh's fist she gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank goodness." Fairy Godmother said pushing a willow tree branch out of her way. "I thought I'd lost my wand. May I have it back, please?"

Merrikh smirked again, twirling the wand loosely in fingers. "I don't think so. I have plans for this wand."

That made Fairy Godmother pause in surprise. "Sir, I don't think you understand. In the wrong hands that wand would be extremely dangerous."

At that Lady Tremaine raised an eyebrow in surprise, taking a step forward. Merrikh stopped twirling the wand and instead pointed it directly at Fairy Godmother.

"Exactly." Merrikh said. He gave a quick wave of the wand. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

With that green sparks came soaring out of the tip of the wand, smacking into Fairy Godmother. There was a flash of light, and when everyone looked, Fairy Godmother had been turned to stone, frozen in place. There was a moment of stunned silence; Merrikh rolled the wand for a moment, examining his handy work, before he turned to face the three women.

"With this wand, you could do anything." Merrikh said in a hushed tone, walking forward. "You could have power, riches and… revenge."

He focused his stare on Anastasia for a moment, she shrunk back slightly, terrified by Merrikh. "You could even have your own happily ever after. Finally have your own Prince Charming."

"What do we have to do?" Anastasia asked quickly at the thought of marrying the Prince.

"All you have to do," Merrikh said handing the wand over to Anastasia. "Is destroy the Keyblade barer's friends. I don't care how you do, just get rid of them – I want him to suffer each and every loss. There are at least four companions with him: A giant duck, and an oversized dog. Also a tall boy with silver hair, and a girl with shoulder length red hair, also, if she survived – another girl – with long brown hair."

As Merrikh began to walk back into the dark forest he turned back. "The Kingdom Key barer is a young man with spiky hair. Do not harm him; I want that pleasure for myself. Also, do not think that you can double-cross me and just use that magic for your own gain. _**That **_would be a terrible mistake."

Merrikh summoned his long sword, spinning it in a circle a door through darkness opened, and he stepped through. Anastasia held onto the wand in wonder before Lady Tremaine stepped forward and snatched it from her daughter's hand.

"We have all the powers of the universe at our fingertips." Lady Tremaine said quietly looking at the wand.

"But what about what that man said," Anastasia said slowly, looking worried. "About us having to get rid of all those people?"

"That's what you're worried about?" Drizella snorted. "I'm only worried about how much gold and other riches I can get with that magic stick!"

Then, they all heard a voice, or it was more of a squawk, coming from within the woods, and the snapping of twigs. From through the trees stepped Donald, mumbling angrily to himself, as he pulled a sharp thorn from his side and brushed several leaves out of his feathers.

"Fairy Godmother," Donald shouted entering the clearing, his feathered hands cupped around his bill. "Fairy Godmother you here?"

With a sigh he started to turn, when he saw Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia all staring at him. He smiled and wobbled over to them.

"'Scuse me," Donald said looking up at the three women. "I'm lookin' for someone. An older lady, she lost somthin' and went wandering off. Cinderella was getting worried and asked if we'd look for her."

"Cinderella." Lady Tremaine said, her grip tightening on the wand. "What does that old woman have to do with, Cinderella?"

"Oh, she's Cinderella's Fairy Godmother." Donald replied. Completely unaware of the wand clutched in Tremaine's hand.

"So that's how that little brat did it," Tremaine whispered coldly to herself. "She had her Fairy Godmother use magic to get her to the ball."

"Well, I need to keep looking." Donald said, turning away. He hadn't heard Lady Tremaine. "I need to go help Sora and the others look for Fairy God-"

Donald stopped short, for he had just seen the statue of Fairy Godmother near the woods edge. Scurrying over Donald quickly waved a hand in front of Fairy Godmothers face, then he gingerly taped on one of her stone arms. He let out a squawk of horror and scrambled backward.

"What happened?" Donald asked in terror looking wildly between the stone figure of Fairy Godmother and Lady Tremaine. Then he saw the wand clutched in her hand and put the pieces together, but it was too late.

"The same thing, that's going to happen to you," Tremaine said raising the wand over her head. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

Bringing her arm down Tremaine sent sparks flying towards Donald. He was able to duck out of the way and started to run towards the woods, but Tremaine whipped the wand at him again, this time the spell smacked into Donald's chest. Another flash of light, and a Donald statue stood not far from the Fairy Godmother one.

"Wow." Drizella said circling Donald's stone form. "I wanna try it!"

Drizella ran forward trying to get a hold of the wand, but Anastasia cut in front of her. "No! I want to use it next! I want a Prince of my own."

The two sisters began to bicker and squabble over who would get to use the wand first, each trying to snatch the wand. Their mother held it out of their reach. At that moment Enya walked quietly through the woods, she stopped and watched them for several moments, slightly bemused. After several more seconds Enya gave a slight cough and entered the garden. Tremaine and her daughters ceased their argument, all looking up at the teenage girl standing in the middle of their garden.

"Um, sorry to bother you," Enya said smiling slightly. "I'll let you go back to fighting over your twig in a sec, but, I'm just looking for someone – well actually two someone's – an older woman and a duck."

"The duck is about this tall," Enya said raising a flat palm out to around the middle of her waist. "And he has a blue jacket and a hat on. Oh, and he can talk."

There was a moment of silence; Enya suddenly realized how crazy what she had just said probably sounded.

"You know what," Enya said taking a step back. "I'll just go and look for them, somewhere else."

Enya continued to back up, when she felt something knock into the back of her knees. Tumbling backwards, Enya fell onto her back. Grumbling, she sat up, rubbing the back of her head Enya tried to examine what she had tripped on in the dimming light. What she saw made her eyes widen in terror. The thing she'd tripped on was what appeared to be a webbed foot, completely made of stone. Looking further up, Enya saw a giant stone duck, frozen midstride.

"Donald." Enya whispered. She quickly summoned her daggers and advanced on the three women standing in the garden. Anastasia and Drizella backed up slightly, terrified by the angry blue fire burning in Enya's eyes. Lady Tremaine only sneered. Enya pointed both daggers at Lady Tremaine, seeing the wand in her boney grip. "Whatever you did, you better undo it – and quick."

"You want to know what I did," Lady Tremaine said slowly pointing the wand at Enya. "I'll show you, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

Again green sparks irrupted from the wand, this time heading for Enya. She instinctively raised the daggers in front of her, the green sparks smashed into the metal of the daggers – and disappeared. Enya stared in surprise, and quickly got into a better fighting stance, knees bent, one arm stretched out in front of her, the other at the same level, closer to her body. Both daggers pointed at Lady Tremaine.

Lady Tremaine cast another spell at Enya, who dove to the side, tucking into a ball then springing back up to her feet, just in time to block yet another burst of magic from hitting her. Lady Tremaine continued to attack, throwing green sparks one after another at Enya, who continued to block them with her daggers or by acrobatically dodging them. When Tremaine cast several spells at her all at once, Enya ran towards a tree, running up the front of the bark and back flipping back to the ground, to avoid the magic.

After several moments Enya started to feel her arms going heavy, trying to avoid every single attack. She was slightly hunched over, both arms hung limply in front of her, and she was gripping the daggers loosely. She had started to pant slightly.

"You can't keep dodging me forever!" Lady Tremaine shouted, a strand of grey hair falling out of its neat bun. Enya glanced sideways to where the statues of Donald and Fairy Godmother stood, both had a terrified look on their faces and that gave Enya more drive.

"Yeah, and you can't keep casting spells forever either!" Enya raised her daggers again, spinning them in hand over her head several times; Enya brought the twin blades down in front of her with renewed vigor. Lady Tremaine's upper lip curled back as she continued to cast spells.

Enya kept up her defense for a while longer till she heard something, or someone coming towards where she was.

"Enya!" She heard Sora shout from a ways back. "Donald, Enya, Fairy Godmother! Where are you?"

"Great," This time it was Riku's voice, coming from the same direction. "Now we lost Enya too. How are we gonna find them all."

"They can't have gone far." Kairi's voice sounded worried. "We'll find them here somewhere."

"Yeah," Goofy said, it sounded like they were all heading towards Lady Tremaine's home. "Hey, I see light up ahead; maybe they're all over there."

"No." Enya whispered hoarsely. Sora, and the others were coming this way and Enya was too weak to get to them, to warn them of Lady Tremaine.

"_I have to try."_ Enya thought.

Then as she took a step towards where Sora's voice had come from, Lady Tremaine pointed the wand at her again casting another spell. Enya blocked it. Then she hurtled past Lady Tremaine, and began to run towards Sora and the others. But while Enya's back was turned, Lady Tremaine threw another bolt of magic at her, it barely missed, smacking into a tree. Enya reached out towards the woods where she could hear Sora and the others walking around.

"Sora!" Enya screamed. "Ru-"

But the sentence was cut off as a blast of magic struck Enya right in the middle of the back. She let out a tiny gasp, before she too, was turned to stone.

"Finally." Lady Tremaine huffed, placing the loose strains of hair back into her bun. "Two down, three to go."

"But, first…" Tremaine turned to look up at the sky, the moon full and high above. "Now – Cinderella – to undo your happily ever after, I call upon all the forces of the universe, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

There was a moment of silence then the tip of the wand burst, emitting a huge wave of sickly greenish flames that surrounded the edge of the garden. Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Anastasia, and the stone statues of Donald, Enya, and Fairy Godmother were inside.

"Give us the moon and sun." Tremaine chanted. "Undo tide and time, undo Cinderella's happily ever after to the moment my troubles began!"

….

Sora and the others turned when they saw a burst of green light illuminate the trees. A fierce wind whipped around them, coming from the green light.

"What is that?" Riku shouted over the roar of twigs snapping in the fierce breeze.

Sora didn't respond. One hand raised in front of him, to make sure nothing hit his face, Sora pressed against the wind towards the clearing. The others followed till they came to the edge of the clearing where they met an impregnable wall of green flames.

"Whoa!" Sora shouted as he was nearly blasted back as another fierce whip of wind slammed into them.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, clutching at a tree to keep herself planted. "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Sora hollered back.

However, as suddenly as the green flames had appeared, they were gone. Everyone looked at each other, not completely sure what to do. Then slowly, everyone entered the garden, and stepped into dazzling sunlight.

"Huh?" Goofy said, squinting up at the sun. "Wasn't it nighttime a second ago?"

"Yeah." Riku said, folding his arms and looking at the ground, frowning. "Something weird is going on here."

Then Riku saw it, the stone webbed foot and he felt a crashing feeling in the pit of his stomach. Riku walked forward slowly to see the stone figures of Donald and Fairy Godmother.

"Sora!" Riku shouted turning to look for his friend. "Sora, over here! Quick!"

"What?" Sora huffed, Kairi and Goofy close on his heels. "What is it? Did you find D-"

Sora froze when he saw the statues, he walked forward slowly, dazed. Sora stood so that he and Donald were looking at each other, Sora sunk to his knees.

"Donald." Sora whispered, he felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

He reached out and touched Donald's stone chest as if hoping to feel his friends beating heart under the stone skin. All he felt was cold, unfeeling stone. Goofy had tears streaming down his nose, as he gripped Sora's shoulder, Riku's hand on his other shoulder.

Kairi had her hands clutched over her mouth, shaking her head slightly, as if that would make it all untrue. She turned away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes when she saw something, a dense shadow hidden among the trees slightly to the left. Quickly walking over, Kairi pushed several branches out of the way and let out a scream.

"Kairi!" Sora and Riku shouted, Keyblades drawn they ran to Kairi's side as she stumbled out of the trees. She ran straight into Sora. She threw her arms around his neck sobbing, and clutching at him.

"Kairi," Sora said suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "What's wrong?"

Kairi could only shake her head, and deep in his heart, Sora already knew.

"_Please."_ Sora thought desperately. _"Not that too."_

Sora carefully pulled away from Kairi and stepped into the woods, Riku right behind him. Goofy stayed next to Donald and put and arm around Kairi as Sora and Riku disappeared into the woods. Sora pulled aside the last branch, and his heart stopped. Enya, frozen in stone, her head was turned slightly looking over her shoulder, her arm reaching forward in desperation.

"No." Sora whispered, running forward. "No. No! NO!"

Sora fell to his hands and knees; he pounded the ground with a fist. "This can't be happening!"

Sora felt hot tears streaming down his face. Riku could only stare. His entire body felt numb. He couldn't move he couldn't speak. After a few moments of no sound but the distant sounds of Goofy and Kairi crying. Riku took a few steps forward; he reached out and touched the stone arm of his friend.

"_This isn't right."_ Riku's mind thought numbly. _"She's not smiling. She's always smiling, just like Sora. Why isn't she smiling?"_

Riku dropped his hand and quickly strode over to Sora; with one hand he yanked his friend to his feet, pulling him through the trees.

"C'mon." Riku said gruffly, as he broke the branches that blocked his path. "We're going to find out who did this."

When Sora and Riku entered the clearing Goofy and Kairi had moved to sit on the edge of a large fountain, both still the wet streaks of tears on their faces. Sora slumped onto the fountains edge next to Kairi staring down at his hands, they were balled into fists.

"What do we do?" Kairi said looking up at Riku, her voice trembled slightly. "This has got to be magic and the only person who could save Donald and Enya is probably Fairy Godmother, and she's stone too. Merlin could probably do something, but without the gummi ship we can't get back to Radiant Gardens."`

"I might be able to open a door through darkness…" Riku said quietly. Sora's head snapped up and he shook his head furiously.

"No, Riku. You don't belong to the Dark Realm anymore. Besides, do you want to end up looking like Xenahort's Heartless again?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Riku snapped back, folding his arms. "Donald is my friend too, and Enya risked a lot to break me out of that prison!"

There was a moment of silence, Sora stood and shook his head again. "No, let's try to figure this out on our own first. That's what Donald and En would want anyways, I don't think they would want you to risk that much."

Riku set his jaw, but nodded in agreement. Sora turned to look up at the house. "Someone's got to live in this house; maybe they saw what happened and can help us."

….

As Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy walked around to the front door, they were just in time to see a carriage pull away from the house and see the large doors close slowly.

"Someone's still inside." Goofy said walking up to the door. He rapped his knuckles on the door, then grabbed a hold of the knocker and slammed it down several times, for good measure.

The door opened after several seconds and everyone stared in surprise.

"Cinderella?" Sora asked, confused. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were at the gazebo with the Prince?"

Cinderella blinked. "I'm sorry, do I know you? You look familiar?"

"Cinderella," Sora said stepping forward. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Well…" Cinderella said slowly. "You look a lot like this boy I just met, Sora, he saved me, but he's only fourteen. Are you his older brother?"

There was a moment of silence before Cinderella opened the door properly. "Why don't you come in?"

As Sora and the others entered everyone noticed two things. At the bottom of the stairs was a small pile of shattered glass, and Cinderella was drying her eyes of tears.

"What happened?" Kairi asked turning around to look at Cinderella as she shut the door.

"I-It's nothing." Cinderella whispered quickly whipping a tear away from her blue eyes. "I guess I should introduce myself, but, you already seem to know who I am."

"Yeah," Sora said folding his arms, mind reeling. "That's because we saw you less than an hour ago, you were at your wedding anniversary. Don't you remember? And you recognize me because I _**AM**_ Sora."

"But that's not possible." Cinderella said sadly, she went over to the broken glass and started to clean it up. "I'm not married, and you look a lot like Sora but you're too old. You must be at least fifteen, maybe sixteen."

"Um, can you excuse us for a second?" Riku said to Cinderella as he hauled Sora by his shirt collar over to a corner of the room. Kairi and Goofy quickly followed.

"What's going on?" Riku whispered. "What does she mean she's not married? Cinderella's acting like it's the day after you beat Ansem, the fake Ansem."

"It's like it's a year earlier." Kairi whispered back. "Almost like there's been a twist in time."

"That woulda explain why the sun's out." Goofy mused scratching his head. "Maybe time leapt backwards or somthin'?"

"But Cinderella doesn't remember the time leap." Sora retorted. "So if time did jump back, then why do we remember what happened?"

"The same reason that when we were in Port Royal, we didn't turn all skeleton-y," Goofy said. "There're different laws for us."

"Right." Sora said, before walking back over to where Cinderella was kneeling. He crouched down next to her. "Cinderella, I know this is going to be kinda confusing, but I am Sora. I don't really know how to explain all this, so why don't you tell me what happened."

Cinderella looked up at him. "After you freed me and the others, my world returned to light and I came back here. I was able to make it to the ball and meet the Prince. He was so kind, and loving, but my Fairy Godmother's magic only lasted to midnight, I ran home. I accidently dropped one of my glass slippers and the Prince ordered the Grand Duke to try the shoe on every maiden in the kingdom. However, my stepmother, Lady Tremaine, locked me in my room. When Jaq and Gus, my mice friends freed me, I thought I'd have a chance to try my slipper on, and prove that I was the one who danced with the Prince last night, but…"

"But…what?" Kairi asked urging Cinderella to continue.

"The slipper fit Anastasia." Cinderella said, looking down at the ground, fresh tears springing to her eyes. "I had the other glass slipper in my pocket, but my Stepmother smashed it. Now, I have no proof that it was me last night."

"Cinderelly! Cinderelly!"

Everyone glanced up the stairs to see the two little mice from before sliding down the stairway banister.

"What just a-happened?" The plump mouse, Gus, asked looking up at Cinderella with wide eyes.

Cinderella didn't respond. Instead, held up two shards of glass, they were two halves of a heart. Sighing, Cinderella set them both down with the rest of the broken slipper.

"I always dreamed that my life could be, like a fairy tale, a perfect fantasy. But, it was nothing more than a dream."

Riku walked over to Cinderella and offered her his hand. "Look, I'm sure that the Prince remembers that he danced with you. You can't give up that easily, you have to have a strong heart."

"He's right." Kairi said hands behind her back. "Otherwise, your dreams can't come true."

Cinderella sat still on the ground for a moment before a warm smile spread across her face and she let Riku help her up.

"Thank you," Cinderella said. "You're right. If I just see him again, everything will be alright!"

"Well then, let's go!" Sora shouted heading out the door.

….

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy followed Cinderella, who led the way; Jaq and Gus were tucked into the pocket of her apron. As the seven companions drew closer to the white castle they all saw several large guards standing stoic outside the castle gates.

"How are we going find the Prince?" Goofy said in hushed tones as they stood a ways down the road. "I don't think there just goin' to let us in."

"Probably not," Sora whispered back. "I really rather not fight them, that would probably be a red flag to Lady Tremaine that we're here."

"I've got an idea." Cinderella said after a moment's pause. She then left the main road and scurried down a side trail. The others followed, not really sure what else they could do. When the trail widened out again everyone saw another smaller gate.

"We can just sneak through the servant's entrance." Cinderella said pointing to the gate. "Once we get in, we'll have to split up to cover more ground."

She carefully pulled Jaq and Gus out of her pocket and set them on a low branch.

"You two stay here, in case things don't go well."

Neither of the two mice looked happy about the thought of being left behind, but they didn't argue.

"C'mon." Cinderella said, leading the way.

"This is never going to work." Riku muttered to Sora as the approached the gate. "There's no way that they're just going to let the five of us just waltz inside."

However, as they entered the inner area one of the servant's walked up to them and smiled.

"Oh, good, more people to help us caring goods in." With that the man handed each of them some supplies and waved them through into the palace. Sora grinned at Riku.

"Unbelievable." Riku said as he set the bag he'd been handed down inside the storage area.

"Now what?" Kairi whispered as she too set down the supplies she'd been given.

"All we have to do is find him." Cinderella said starting to walk towards the door further into the palace. "Then, everything will be alright…"

"You there!" The five friends froze midstride and turned to see a snobbish looking woman storming up to them. She stared down a long nose at each of them. "Who are you five? I don't believe that I've ever seen any of you here. What is your purpose in our castle?"

"Our…purpose," Sora said slowly, his brain thinking furiously for a decent excuse. "Um…we… we're…"

Then it hit him.

"We're a new special guard, for protecting the Prince." Sora said quickly, straightening slightly, trying to look important.

"Is that so?" The snide woman said, crossing her arms, completely unconvinced. "And what, pray tell, are you suppose to be protecting the Prince from?"

"Um…" Sora started to say lamely when suddenly, several Dusk Nobodies appeared. One of the nobodies lunged at the woman, but Riku slashed his Keyblade through it and the others in a matter of seconds.

"From those." Riku said pointedly. "You know, if you keep us standing here, those creatures could spread all through the castle. If the Prince is harmed, we'll know who to blame."

The lady was still shaken by the fact that a white creature had appeared from nowhere and attacked her. She quickly pointed to the door and spluttered.

"G-go, and get rid of t-those th-things?"

"That's why we're here." Riku said walking past, he gave the lady a quick wave, his other hand in his pocket. The others quickly followed into the other room.

"That was impressive." Sora smirked up at Riku, thunking his friend on the shoulder. Riku gave a curt nod of recognition, his lips twitched slightly in a suppressed smile.

"We better split up here," Kairi said. "If anyone finds anything, we can all meet back here."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Sora said looking around at their small group. "Goofy, you should stay with Cinderella. Kairi, you stay with me. Riku, will you be okay on your own?"

But Riku was already heading down a hallway, everyone else headed in opposite directions.

….

The King and the Prince were fencing, and arguing.

"But Dad…" The Prince said as he parried his father's blow.

"Those aren't reasons to marry a girl!" The King shouted over the clanking of metal. "You marry a girl who has breeding and refinement, not because of her choice in transparent footwear!"

Both father and son fenced for a moment straining, trying to find an opening to attack. Finally the Prince spoke up.

"It's not about the slipper." He said, lunging forward. "It's the girl in the slipper. She was…well, she was…"

The Prince became lost in thought not really paying attention to his sword fighting anymore, and still managing to be the one winning.

"She was the one." The Prince said as he was able to snatch the sword from his father's grip. "It was just like how you use to describe mom. The moment I touched her hand, I knew she was the one person I wanted to spend my life with."

The King was silent for a moment. He smiled at his son and nodded. They both heard a bugle horn, the signal of the Grand Duke. The Prince turned, and ram to the door, he quickly called over his shoulder.

"They found her!"

….

Riku was walking down a long hallway when he heard voice from further behind him. Turning, he saw a talk man in a blue uniform and a monocle, leading three women down the hallway. Not wanting to be found wandering the halls of the castle Riku slipped into the closest room he could find.

He didn't have time to relax because the door handle started to turn a few seconds later. Looking around quickly, Riku saw a high window that was open. There was a large ledge. With a running start Riku jumped onto a table then leapt towards the window. His fingers got a good grip on the inside ledge, with a grunt Riku flipped himself over and onto the outside ledge, just as the door opened.

From the window Riku could see the entire room, without much chance of being seen. The man and three women Riku had seen in the hallway entered at that moment. The redheaded girl sat in a chair in the center of the room, an older woman Riku assumed to be her mother stood next to her. The final girl slumped into a chair in the corner looking annoyed.

"_Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsisters."_ Riku thought as the Grand Duke spoke.

"Now if you three will just wait a moment. I'm sure the Prince will be here momentarily."

The doors were flung open and the Prince came strolling in, smiling. However, that smile faded when he saw Anastasia sitting in the chair. He came to a halt, not sure what to do.

"Oh…um, I'm sorry, but there seems to be… well, there seems to be, ah, little mix-up."

"Your Grace," Lady Tremaine said, bowing slightly. "There's no mistake. My daughter's foot fit the glass slipper; we are here so that my daughter, Anastasia, may become the future queen."

"See! See!" Anastasia said, raising her right foot. There, was the glass slipper.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the Prince processed what Lady Tremaine had just said.

"Oh, yes…I see. I really do feel awful about this, but it appears that the slipper must fit, more than one girl." The Prince said, slightly awkward. "I was expecting someone else. Um, why don't I let the Grand Duke, escort you home safely? I am sorry to have inconvenienced you like this."

Anastasia whimpered slightly, as the Prince started to walk away. Riku smirked slightly. Looking down, only a few feet below was the roof of a walkway between two parts of the castle.

"_All I have to do is get down there."_ Riku thought, edging down slightly. _"Then, I can cut him off."_

But just as Riku got into position to leap down he heard Lady Tremaine whisper something.

"Wait!" She hissed. Riku looked into the room again, to see Lady Tremaine's hand gripping Anastasia's shoulder. Anastasia was looking desperately after the Prince, but Tremaine pulled her back. Riku watched in surprise as Lady Tremaine pulled a long piece of white wood out of her purple sleeve.

"You will forget the girl you danced with and marry the girl who fits the slipper, tonight!" Lady Tremaine whispered, Riku could only here her because he was basically right above her. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

Green sparks flew from the wand and flew across the room, hitting the Princes shoulder. He groaned slightly, clutching at his head, a faint green glow came off him for a moment, then it was gone and the Prince turned around.

"Wait," He said slowly looking at Anastasia. "It's all coming back to me now. It is you!"

Riku's eyes widened. Lady Tremaine had stolen Fairy Godmother's wand and was using its magic to control the Prince. Then a thought struck him that made him shake in anger.

"_It was her."_ He thought furiously. _"She's the one who turned Donald and Enya into statues! They must have seen something and …" _

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the Prince speak again.

"Please." The Prince was now on one knee. "Tell me your name."

"It's Anastasia." The redheaded sister said blushing. The Prince sighed like it was the most beautiful word in the world.

"Anastasia, I know it's sudden – but – would you marry me?" From his pocket the Prince produced a ring.

"Yes! YIPPEE!" Anastasia shouted grabbing the ring in glee. However she toppled the chair she was sitting over, the ring slipped from her grip and rolled across the floor. Anastasia crawled across the floor, laughing manically, trying to capture the ring. The glass slipper made a screeching sound as it slid across the stone floor. Finally Anastasia's hands slapped down on top of the diamond ring, shoving it onto her finger.

Riku arched an eyebrow, he half expected the spell to break right then and there after that scene. No such luck. Anastasia seemed to realize her mistake and quickly got to her feet.

"Oh…er…" Anastasia said as she clumsily got to her feet. "I mean yes! Definitely yes, I will marry you."

"Excellent." Lady Tremaine said stepping forward. "The ceremony will take place tonight. I trust that meets with your approval Sire."

"The sooner the better." The Prince beamed. With that he bowed and exited the room.

Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella remained. Riku was still on the window, but he was now considering the idea of grabbing the wand. It wouldn't be that difficult. He had the advantage of surprise on his hand and as soon as he had the wand, he'd be able to save Donald, Enya, and Fairy Godmother and set everything right. He was about to jump down from the window when Drizella finally spoke.

"Mother," She said standing. "What about what Merrikh said?"

Riku froze. Merrikh was here; somehow he had found out that Sora and the rest of them were in Cinderella's world.

"What about him?" Lady Tremaine said, sneering slightly.

"Well, he said that he would give us the wand and let us use its magic as long as we got rid of the Keyblade barer's friends. What if we can't find the others?"

"We'll find them." Lady Tremaine said matter-o-factly. She slipped the wand back into her sleeve. "I'm sure they're here somewhere. Besides, Merrikh gave me another gift right before he left."

Lady Tremaine clicked her fingers and several Heartless appeared out of nowhere. These were a new type of Heartless to Riku. They looked like giant bloodhounds; they were a deep blue with large yellow eyes and instead of stomachs their middles looked like they were cages.

"Find the Kingdom Key barer's friends, and bring them to me." Lady Tremaine said. "But go unseen."

The Cagehounds all growled slightly then ran towards the door, sliding right through the door as if it didn't exist. Lady Tremaine suddenly felt the uneasy feeling of being watched and whipped around to stare up at the open window. No one was there. She narrowed her dark green eyes slightly but turned back to her daughters and exited the room.

….

Sora and Kairi walked side by side, quickly peeking into every room they could, trying to find the Prince. Sora couldn't help looking out of the corner of his eye at Kairi. Once or twice their eyes had met and that had lead to both of them quickly looking away, flushed. Sora realized after a moment that this was one of the first times he'd been alone with Kairi since she gave him her lucky charm. They had both kept silent nearly the entire time, only speaking to confirm with each other that they hadn't seen the Prince in a room.

Sora glanced at Kairi again, and he noticed that she looked very deep in thought. Cautiously, Sora reached out and touched her shoulder lightly.

"Huh." Kairi said vaguely, looking up.

"What's on your mind?" Sora said smiling slightly. Kairi looked at him for a moment then slowly kept on walking down the hallway, hands behind her back. Finally she spoke, turning around to face Sora.

"Sora," Kairi said, tucking a strand of hair behind an ear. "Do you ever think about the islands?"

The question caught Sora of guard, but he nodded. "Yeah, sometimes. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking." Kairi said looking out a window. "I've seen how much we've changed…You, me, Riku. Look at Enya, she looks so different from before. I wonder what else has changed back on the islands. I mean, how can we go through all of this and then just go back to Destiny Island like nothing's happened?"

Sora thought seriously about the question for a moment, folding his arms and staring down at the marbled floor. After a while he looked up at Kairi and shook his head.

"Ya know. I'm not really sure, but I promise you Kairi, no matter what…I'll be there, no matter what's changed."

Kairi smiled out the window then at Sora. Sora felt his face start to turn red, but Kairi didn't seem to notice. Instead she looked back out the window and asked another question.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Yeah." Sora replied walking over to stand next to Kairi, looking out the window too.

"Do you remember, back on Destiny Island…when we would sit on the beach and do nothing? When we were always together?" Kairi looked up at him, the sunlight shining across her skin. "I miss that."

They both stood there for a moment, facing each other. Sora felt his feet move on their own accord, he stepped closer to Kairi. She looked up at him, her heart pounding a little faster than before. Sora swallowed hard and began to lean down slightly. Kairi's eyes fluttered close, when they heard a deep growl from behind them. Kairi opened her eyes and turned to see several of the Cagehounds advancing on them, they growled again, low to the ground, teeth bared.

Sora gritted his teeth and pulled Kairi behind him. He had his Keyblade gripped in one hand, the other extended, trying to shield Kairi. The five Cagehounds continued to advance; the one in the lead snapped his teeth furiously, then pounced forward.

Sora lifted his Keyblade in front of his face, one hand gripping the handle, the other hand flat against the teeth of his keyblade. The Cagehounds fangs snapped down onto the middle of the keyblade, snarling and trying to claw at Sora, but he kept the Heartless at bay. The other Heartless hounds ran around Sora, trying to get at Kairi. She had already summoned her own keyblade and was lashing out at each Heartless that approached, but these Heartless were quite agile.

Sora could feel the Cagehound bearing down on top of him. He suddenly realized something; this Heartless was just trying to keep him occupied while the others attacked Kairi. Grunting, Sora shoved his keyblade forward, throwing the Cagehound back. Sora saw that Kairi was struggling to keep the other Cagehounds at bay, every time she swung her keyblade at one of them, another would attack. Sora tried to run forward to help, but the Cagehound he'd thrown off attacked again, this time it grabbed the back of his hood yanking him down.

Struggling Sora flipped himself over and sliced the Heartless across the chest. It howled in pain and stumbled back, but it didn't disappear. Taking advantage of the Heartless' distraction, Sora reached into his side pack and randomly grabbed two key chains.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted, throwing one of the key chains to her. "Catch!"

Reaching up Kairi caught the keychain in midair, quickly hooking it onto her Keyblade without looking at what it was. In a flash of light Kairi's keyblade transformed, the multi-colored flowers all transforming into roses, the middle of the keyblade growing vines and thorns, the hilt turning green and looking like petals. Kairi's keyblade was now the Rumbling Rose.

At that same moment Sora had attached his keychain and in a flash of light, he now clutched the black hilt of Oblivion. Sora and Kairi both charged gripping their new keyblades. Sora slide across the floor and with one plunge sent the Cagehound into darkness.

Kairi spun around, keyblade extended in front of her, slicing through two of the four remaining Heartless, both barely let out a yip before they too disappeared. The remaining two advanced again on Kairi, one opened its mouth so wide, to would be able to swallow Kairi whole. Out of nowhere Sora came flying down, Keyblade high over his head, as he fell he brought Oblivion down, smashing one Heartless. Kairi charged the final Cagehound it raised a clawed paw at her but Kairi kicked out, catching the paw and slamming it back into the ground before slicing her keyblade across its chest.

The two friends stood there silently, before Kairi finally spoke.

"I've never seen Heartless that look like that. Where did they come from?"

"I don't know." Sora said as he de-summoned his Keyblade. "They might be native to this world. But wherever they came from, they knew what they were after."

Kairi nodded, she started to unclip the rose key chain but Sora stopped her, placing his hand on top of hers.

"Nah, why don't you keep it, just in case?"

Sora started to walk down the hall again. Kairi stood there for a moment, looking at her hand. What they both felt, but would never admit, was a slight warmth and tingling where their hands had touched. Kairi blushed slightly before she ran down the hall to catch up with Sora.

….

Merrikh stepped through his portal and looked around the darkness of his dominion, his castle. The world that Merrikh inhabited had been, not too long ago, a world of light, but since Merrikh had taken control the world had been plunged into deep darkness.

Merrikh walked down the hall of his castle, even the structure of the building was suffering from its dive into darkness. The large stain glass windows that once had sunlight streaming through were now either shattered or were covered by thick black curtains. The tall white stone walls of the castle had taken on a blackish yellow hue, like when a tooth has rotted away. The gold that had decorated the walls had turned sickly green. The entire castle smelled of Brimstone, Merrikh's own special touch of his personal darkness.

As Merrikh continued down the hallway, his followers scurried past him in every direction. Every single one of them wore a simple red robe with a long black vest over top. Merrikh paid no attention to them as they passed, they were tools nothing more. All of his promises to them of restoring this world, bringing back their loved ones souls, were nothing more than fabrications.

The thought of their stupidity brought a smile to Merrikh's face, like nothing else could. Well…maybe not the only thing. Visions of Sora's face as he saw each of his friends die a horrible death or being ripped away from him almost made Merrikh laugh with suppressed glee.

"You brought this upon yourself." Merrikh whispered, as if Sora were really there. "You should have taken my offer when you had the chance."

Merrikh knew that Lady Tremaine and her sniveling daughters wouldn't be able to dispose of all of Sora's comrades, but they would put a dent into the pile. He finally came to a stop outside of a pair of large black doors. Pressing a white hand against the charred wood, Merrikh opened the doorway to his main chamber. This was the only room that Merrikh hadn't changed, it had already been filled with darkness, he'd merely opened the door.

The room was immense, and circular, with tall black pillars along the edge and stairs cut into the curving wall that lead up to a throne. However, what interested Merrikh was what in the center of the room. A large pool of black water, the surface of which was so completely still, it looked like a mirror. Merrikh looked into the pool as he passed, before he continued to walk past.

"Merrikh…" A weak voice hissed. "Merrikh…"

Merrikh stopped, midstride turning around to look down into the pool again.

"Merrikh…" The voice called out again, weak but with some form of insane power hidden behind it.

Leaning over to see into the pool again, Merrikh smiled wickedly, a cold chuckle coming from between his pale lips.

"Somehow," Merrikh whispered down at the shadow in the water. "I had a feeling that you'd appear here eventually."

He let out a cackle of laughter that echoed off the stone walls.

….

Cinderella and Goofy were having a difficult time of dodging Heartless and once they had nearly run into Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella. Both of them had quickly scurried behind a large statue to avoid being seen.

"He's gotta be here somewheres." Goofy mumbled, peaking around a corner, peering down the hall. "Wonder where he is?"

He turned around to see that Cinderella was running down the hall in the opposite direction, the Prince had just exited a room and was heading down the hall. Cinderella was hurrying to catch up with him. Goofy quickly scrambled around and rushed down the corridor after Cinderella. Huffing and puffing Goofy finally caught up with her.

Cinderella and the Prince had stopped in the middle of a roofed in walkway that connected two parts of the castle. They were talking and Goofy not wanting to disturb them, hung back watching. However, the Prince didn't seem to recognize Cinderella and Goofy saw the Prince start to walk away from her, when Cinderella called after him.

"But that's not right!"

Goofy quickly walked over to stand next to Cinderella, she looking incredibly upset. The Prince turned around and looked at Cinderella again, and for a moment Goofy thought that he saw a spark of recognition in his brown eyes. But, suddenly a green film covered his eyes, for just an instant, and the spark was gone. The Prince ran a hand through his black hair and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Look, I'm really sorry, maybe we've met before and I don't remember." The Prince said smiling slightly. "But I need to go and tell my father about Anastasia."

With that the Prince strode the rest of the way across the walkway and disappeared.

"What happened?" Goofy asked Cinderella. She was still looking after the Prince her eyes wide, and a single tear ran down her cheek. She opened her mouth to respond, but the two companions heard someone calling for them.

"Cinderella! Goofy!"

Turning, they saw Kairi and Sora standing at the beginning of the arch. Kairi was waving and Sora grinned as they sprinted the short distance to Goofy and Cinderella. Sora's smile disappeared when he saw the look on Cinderella's face.

"What happened?" Sora asked. At that moment they all heard the sound of footsteps, but they were on the roof. Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and Goofy hefted his shield, all were ready for another Heartless attack. The footsteps were coming closer to the edge of the roof.

Sora put a finger to his mouth as he edged closer to the railing, ready to attack the first Heartless that appeared. Instead, a pair of feet swung down from the roof, then a torso and Riku was dangling in front of Sora.

"Hiya." Riku said curtly before swinging onto the floor of the walkway.

"Riku?" Sora said in surprise. "Where'd you come from?"

"The roof of the walkway," Riku said straightening. "Where do ya think?"

Sora glowered at Riku. "I meant before that."

"I was looking for the Prince one floor above." Riku explained. "And I –"

Suddenly the door behind them burst open and the woman that had stopped the five friends before came charging forward. She looked terrified.

"Thank goodness." She gasped when she saw Sora and the others. "I've been looking for you everywhere! There's more of those awful white creatures and some horrible giant blue dogs running around the castle. Hurry, to the ballroom!"

Sora and the others burst into the ballroom to see several servants trapped in a corner by several Nobodies. The Cagehounds weren't interested in the servants but they turned and snarled when they saw Sora, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi. Everyone but Cinderella had a weapon, looking around she saw a suit of armor in a corner. Running over she pried the sword from its metal grip and held it out in front of her. Cinderella didn't know a thing about fighting, but if a Heartless or Nobody attacked her, she'd at least be able to somewhat defend herself.

As Sora and the others prepared to charge, they all heard two tiny voices.

"We're a helping Cinderelly!"

Jaq and Gus crawled underneath the crack under the door. Both put up tiny fists.

"You two need to get out of here!" Sora shouted down at the two little mice. "You could get stepped on or something."

"Nuh-uh," Jaq said shaking his head. "We help! Big blue dogs all over castle!"

"Yeah," Gus said. "And mean old lady walking around with Princey!

There was no time for argument. Sora let out a sigh and with that he, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy charged the Heartless and Nobodies.

….

It didn't take too long defeat the Cagehounds and the Dusks. Surprisingly, Jag and Gus had helped a little. Even Cinderella had been able to keep the Heartless at bay. When all the creatures had been defeated the servants had thanked their rescuers and quickly scurried out of the ballroom.

"So," Sora said looking around at everyone. "Now that we're done with Heartless for a while, did anyone find out the Prince?"

"I did." Cinderella said, looking at the floor. "But, he doesn't even know who I am."

"What?" Sora and Kairi said in unison.

"How's that possible?" Kairi asked. "If the Prince saw you, how could he not recognize you, even if the slipper does fit Anastasia?"

"Because, he's under a magic spell." Riku explained his hands deep in his pockets. "I saw Lady Tremaine, she had Fairy Godmother's wand. My guess, she used the wand to turn Fairy Godmother, Donald, and Enya to stone. Then, she used the magic to make the Prince forget about Cinderella, I saw her cast the spell on him."

"No way." Sora groaned.

"It gets worse," Riku said bitterly. "A lot worse. Merrikh's here."

Sora felt all the color drain from his face, Kairi's eyes widened in horror and Goofy looked terrified. Sora whispered.

"Merrikh's here?" Riku nodded. "But how? I mean, how'd he follow us here?"

"I don't know," Riku said. He turned his attention to Cinderella. "But, the Prince only forgot you because Lady Tremaine is using magic on him."

"Magic, that would explain it." Cinderella nodded in determination. "We need to get that wand!"

….

Anastasia felt humiliated. She'd met the King only to have her wedding cake topple on top of her. The Prince had tried to help, by suggesting a dance. Anastasia had never been a great dancer, but the Prince had 'reminded' her that was how they had met. Having no way out, Anastasia had danced with her future husband. She had trod on his feet, crashed into him, and had even ripped the epaulette off of his jacket. She'd never been so embarrassed in her life, but the Prince had remained charming, he'd been nice to her.

However, after the dance, the King had said he needed to talk to her, alone. He didn't sound very happy about it. Now, Anastasia followed the King, as he led the way down the hall.

"_He probably wants a daughter-in-law who can dance."_ Anastasia thoughts desperately, twirling a strand of her tightly curled red hair. _"He's probably going to throw us out of the palace. I better come up with a good excuse."_

"I can explain y-your majesty." Anastasia said thinking fast. "I have this ah…inner ear thing –"

"You, my dear are a terrible dancer." The King interrupted, with a chuckle.

"Yes," Anastasia said looking down at the ground. "I know your Majesty."

"Reminds me of my Queen," The King replied. He was looking at a picture of a beautiful woman with long flowing hair. "She trod on my feet too. But, she took very good care of my heart."

Anastasia looked up in surprise; the King smiled at her and gestured for Anastasia to follow him. They both walked out onto a balcony whose view was almost the entire kingdom. The King held a large heart shaped box behind his back as he gazed out at his realm.

"There's something I want to tell you. It's a piece of knowledge that has been passed down from queen, to princess since this world began. My wife would have wanted you to know this story." The King was still looking out over the rolling hills as he continued. "Let me show you something first."

He set the heart shaped box on the railing of the balcony. Anastasia clasped her hands together, waiting to see what was so valuable that the King stored it in such an elaborate box.

"_It must be gold,"_ Anastasia thought eagerly. _"Or maybe some kinda of precious stone."_

But when the King opened the box, Anastasia felt her heart sink in disappointment. For the only thing in the box was a tiny white shell, perfectly ordinary.

"Isn't it lovely?" The King murmured as he carefully picked up the tiny shell. "This shell, was the Queens most prized possession. You see, we both were on the beach one day and we both saw the shell and reached for it at the same time. Then as our hands touched, I knew that I had found true love."

"You knew all that, just by touching her hand?" Anastasia said in awe.

"There's no force more powerful in the world, than true love." The King said handing Anastasia the tiny shell.

"That's what I also wanted to talk to you about my dear – other forces. There are many dark and evil things in the world, and many will try to tempt people into following the darkness. They can entice you with promises of power and glory, promises that they will give you everything your heart desires. Darkness is everywhere; it can't be avoided, because without the dark, there is no light. As a princess, you will be a guiding light to the people, so keep your light burning strong. You might think that you cannot fight the darkness of the worlds but, never forget, you are never alone. There is a deep connection between everyone's hearts that you and I cannot possible fathom."

"I understand." Anastasia said, than she thought of something. "Wait – your Majesty – did you say, **Worlds**?"

The King paled slightly, then coughed loudly, trying to cover his error.

"Don't be silly my dear." The King said quickly, ushering Anastasia back inside. "There are no other worlds, t-that would be ridiculous. Now run along now, run along."

Anastasia curtsied before leaving. She ran her fingers over the tiny shell, marveling at how smooth it was, how perfect. She was walking across the walkway when a cold breeze snapped around her. Turning around Anastasia's smile faded as she saw Merrikh, leaning against a pole.

"Are we enjoying ourselves?" Merrikh said dryly. "We haven't forgotten our agreement…have we?"

"N-no," Anastasia muttered looking at the ground. "Of course not."

"Good." Merrikh said stepping forward. "So, how many of the Keyblade barer's friends have you eliminated?"

Anastasia winced at how easily Merrikh talked about taking someone's life. "Two, the duck and the girl with the long brown hair."

Merrikh's face stayed the same cold unfeeling look.

"And, do you even know where the others are?" When Anastasia didn't answer, Merrikh's eyes narrowed. He'd already known. "I thought as much."

Merrikh turned and summoned his sword, opening a doorway.

"Continue to hunt down Sora's friends, but leave Sora for me, I have plans for him."

As Merrikh began to step through the doorway he heard Anastasia say something in a quiet voice.

"But…why?"

As soon as Anastasia had said it, she wished she hadn't. Merrikh froze, and slowly turned to face her, the look in his blood red eyes was beyond fury, no one in their right mind would be able to conquer that much pure venom in a single look. Stepping away from the opening through darkness Merrikh walked towards Anastasia, a black mist forming around the tips of his fingers.

"You dare question me." Merrikh said, and the deadly calmness of his voice was what made it so terrifying. "I'll tell you why you are doing my biding, and we will see, if you can handle the truth."

Anastasia felt frozen in place. She wanted to shake her head, wanted to shout that she didn't want to know and run. Yet, something about Merrikh, perhaps his eyes, or the sound of his voice made it impossible for her to move.

"I have power," Merrikh began. "Power you could not imagine in your wildest dreams – or your most terrifying nightmares. But there's one thing that stands in the way of me achieving my ultimate goal, and that's Sora."

"And," Anastasia swallowed hard trying not to stammer. "What is your goal?"

An insane smile spread across Merrikh's face.

"Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts that have been released by the Key barer, with those hearts not only would I have power over souls but the hearts of those who have given into darkness as well. However, Sora is not like Kingdom Key wielders before him. While every one of his predecessors had a connection to Kingdom Hearts, Sora, also has an incredibly deep connection with his friends –his friend's hearts."

"Sora's heart is the key to Kingdom Hearts, but his heart is also full of light. I can't touch him. However, I can get rid of his friends, they are the source of the light within Sora, and I'm going to snuff them out, one by one. Your job, my dear, is to help me dispose of them. If you don't, I will take back the wand and turn you, your mother and your sister to stone."

Anastasia felt her mouth go dry; everything Merrikh had just said was nothing short of pure evil. But, one question she had to ask.

"W-what do you mean control peoples souls?"

The insane smile on Merrikh's face grew even wider.

"I am the Soulkeeper."

….

Kairi was walking down a long hallway alone, well, mostly. In desperation to try to cover more ground, and quickly, everyone had agreed that they would go out on their own. However, Jaq and Gus couldn't really travel alone, there was too much risk of them either being trampled underfoot or being discovered by a maid and being fed to Lady Tremaine's cat, Lucifer. So after some debate, Kairi had agreed to carry the two mice in her side-packs.

Both mice poked their heads out to keep watch, as Kairi snuck down the corridor, peeking through keyholes or the cracks in doorway, trying to find Lady Tremaine, and more importantly the wand. Continuing down the hall Kairi suddenly saw an eerie green light flashing from under a door a little ways down.

Looking through the keyhole, Kairi could see Drizella. She was covered in jewels and her once simple green dress was now made of elaborate silks and a gaudy amount of lace. Drizella also had the wand clutched in her hand as she added more a more to her attire.

"Drizella!" Lady Tremaine came into view; she yanked the wand out of her daughter's hand and quickly returned Drizella's clothing to their original state. "Stop that this instance! This wand is not a toy."

Kairi's eyes widened slightly as she watched Lady Tremaine shut the wand in a drawer, locked it, then put the key into her pocket. Kairi knew that if she could get in there she would be able to grab the wand and get to Sora and the others before anything happened. How she'd be able to get to the wand that was the problem.

Jaq and Gus quickly scrambled out of Kairi's pack before sliding down the straps.

"What's goin' on?" Gus asked looking up at Kairi.

"Cinderella's Stepmother just put the wand in a dresser," Kairi whispered, a purple-blue eye still pressed against the keyhole. "And she just put the key in her pocket."

Kairi looked down at Jaq and Gus.

"I've got to get in there."

"Kiyee, they see you!" Gus said looking concerned. It took Kairi a moment to realize that Kiyee was supposed to be her name.

"Yeah," Jaq piped up, "too dangerous."

"But I need that wand," Kairi said standing up. "Without it I can't help my friends, and we won't be able to help the Prince either."

"Don't worry; we'll take care of it." Jaq said pointing at himself and Gus.

Kairi was about to argue when she heard quick footsteps coming down the hall. Scooping up Jaq and Gus, Kairi quickly hid behind a tall statue. Peeking around the edge Kairi saw Anastasia quickly scurry down the hallway and enter the room that Lady Tremaine and Drizella now occupied.

As the door shut behind Anastasia, Kairi stepped out into the hallway again. Going down on her knees she let the two mice clamber off her hand and back onto the ground.

"Alright, try to get the wand if you can." Kairi said feeling worried. "But, Cinderella told me about Lucifer, if he sees you, just come back, okay?"

"Zug-zug." Gus said quickly. "No Lucifee."

As Jaq and Gus squeezed under the door, they could see Anastasia standing near the dresser, Drizella was sitting on a plush chair, sulking, and Lady Tremaine was standing near the fireplace. Lucifer was curled up in front of the roaring fire, snoozing.

"There you are!" Lady Tremaine said, staring at her daughter. "What did the King say?"

"He's was very kind." Anastasia said sitting down next to Drizella. "He even gave me his most prized possession."

Anastasia held out the tiny white shell for everyone to see. Lady Tremaine gave it a distasteful look and scoffed.

"A seashell."

Looking down, Anastasia tucked the tiny shell safely in a pocket. See started to nervously twirl a curl of hair.

"Mother, Merrikh showed up again."

Kairi, who had repositioned herself by the door again, straightened up and pressed her ear to the door firmly. If Merrikh was in the palace it could only lead to disaster. It was because of Merrikh that Sora, Riku, Aladdin, and Cassim had nearly died in the Chamber of Midis, back in Agrabah. Also, Kairi was convinced that Merrikh was the one who had informed the guards that Riku and Cassim would be in the treasury in Agrabah's palace.

"He said that we needed to get rid of the rest of the keyblade barer's friends." Anastasia said. "He said if we didn't, he would take the wand back and would turn us all to stone."

Drizella cackled from her chair. "I'd like to see him try. With the wand we're way stronger than he is. Besides, I bet he's not even all that powerful."

"He was strong enough to make the sky turn black." Anastasia whispered. Lady Tremaine and Drizella fell silent. Anastasia stood. "Mother, maybe…we should just give him the wand back. I think that the Prince could love me, without the magic. Maybe we don't even need the wand."

"And…" Anastasia said looking down at her pocket, where the shell was. "I don't want to kill people. Merrikh wants to kill these people, all so that he can destroy, Sora. Maybe we shouldn't be doing this."

While Anastasia had been talking Jaq and Gus had snuck past Lucifer in front of the fireplace, climbing up a small stand that held prongs. Jaq and Gus were able to reach Lady Tremaine's pocket. However, at that moment Lucifer had awoken from his nap and spied the two mice trying to grab the key from his mistresses' pocket. Growling, the cat began to slink towards Jaq and Gus. Lady Tremaine and the others hadn't noticed.

"I've given you everything you wanted," Lady Tremaine spat. "And you want me to just give the wand back."

"I…" Anastasia started to say, but Lady Tremaine interrupted.

"We will continue to hunt down Sora's friends, and we will continue to use the wand." Lady Tremaine clicked her fingers. Several Cagehounds appeared out of nowhere. "And all the powers that come with it."

Seeing the Cagehounds, Lucifer hissed raising a clawed paw towards the Heartless hounds. As one of the hounds approached, and Lucifer backed up, only to have his tail land in the fire behind him, in a matter of seconds his tail was ablaze.

Yowling, Lucifer leapt into the air before crashing on top of a nearby table, making the tea set op top shatter into a million directions. Kairi winced at the sound of the screeching cat and the screaming women. The Cagehounds disappeared when Lady Tremaine clicked her fingers again. As Lady Tremaine stepped forward Jaq and Gus nearly didn't get a hold of the key before Lady Tremaine was out of reach. But at the last second Jaq was able to get firm hold on the key. During this time, Lucifer continued to run around as his tail continued to burn.

"Someone put out the cat!" Drizella shouted as Lucifer ran around her.

Jaq and Gus both scuttled down the stand and both carried the key across the floor, seeing a teacup that hadn't been smashed to pieces. The two mice hefted the key onto their shoulders as they climbed under the teacup, so they wouldn't be seen.

Anastasia had resorted to grabbing a pillow, and as Lucifer scrambled by, she smacked the pillow on top of him. Smashing the cat under the pillow several times till the flames were gone, the finally time Anastasia smacked Lucifer with the pillow she hit him so hard that she sent the cat flying again. The poor cat crashed into a far wall, his claws digging into the wall and pealing wallpaper as he slid down the wall.

"Lucifer!" Lady Tremaine snapped at her cat. Lucifer meowed mournfully, Lady Tremaine sighed. "Someone, fetch the housekeeper."

Peeking through the keyhole again, Kairi saw Drizella and Anastasia ran over to a cord hanging from the ceiling. They squabbled for a moment over pulling the bell rope but they finally yanked on the cord. Several moments later Kairi saw an older lady with a bucket of water and an apron coming down the hall. Thinking quickly, Kairi stood and walked up to the elderly woman.

"Excuse me," Kairi said politely. "Why don't I do that for you?"

"You would do that?" The elderly woman said hobbling to a stop. "Are you sure?"

"Mhm." Kairi said, taking the bucket out of the woman's hand. She also took the apron and the bonnet.

As the maid went back down the hallway, Kairi tied the apron around her waist, and pulled the bonnet down over her eyes, tucking her hair up. Kairi quickly went over to the door, and knocked, head bent so her face wouldn't be seen.

Lady Tremaine answered the door, scowled down at Kairi. "Well, you certainly took your time getting here."

Kairi coughed, making her voice up an octave. "I'm sorry for the delay ma'am, I'll start right away."

Lady Tremaine slid over so that Kairi could get past. Keeping her head bent low Kairi walked into the room.

"Clean this up. My daughter needs her beauty sleep before tonight's wedding."

Kairi nodded; first thing she saw was the teacup that Jaq and Gus were hiding under. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure Lady Tremaine wasn't looking Kairi gently shoved the cup under the drawer that the wand was locked in, trying to cover the movement Kairi, picked up several shards of broken china.

Kairi set the bucket of water down next to her and started to scrub the floor. Several strands of Kairi's red hair fell out from underneath the bonnet.

"Keep of the maid's way girls." Lady Tremaine said slowly, watching Kairi, arms folded. "There's a lot to do before the wedding."

Kairi could see out of the corner of her eye, Jaq and Gus climbing up the side of the dresser and dropping the key into the lock of the top draw. Luckily, Lady Tremaine's back was to the dresser, and Drizella and Anastasia weren't paying attention. As Kairi continued to clean she saw Lady Tremaine's reflection in the sudsy water in the bucket and she froze.

"Isn't that right…" Lady Tremaine said a wicked smile on her face. She grabbed the back of the bonnet. "Kairi!"

Kairi gasped, whirling around she was on her feet in seconds.

"I thought that it was you." Lady Tremaine said arms crossed again. "You and your friends are harder to get rid of than I thought. Still, I was just going to turn you to stone like your other friends, but now that you're helping Cinderella, you'll suffer much, much more."

Kairi clenched her fist. "We're not going to let you get away with this."

"We already have."

"I don't think so." Kairi said. Looking up, Kairi saw that Jaq and Gus had the wand out of the drawer and were ready to run.

"Jaq, Gus!" Kairi shouted sprinting towards the door. Jaq and Gus leapt from the dresser. Lady Tremaine face filled with anger as Kairi scooped Jaq and Gus up and ran out the door. Snapping her fingers, Tremaine summoned several Cagehounds.

"After her!" Lady Tremaine screeched. Several guards came hurried down the corridor at the sound of the shouts. Lady Tremaine pointed after Kairi. "That girl is a thief! Get her!"

….

Kairi was still sprinting down the hallways, when she suddenly saw Cinderella coming around the corner.

"Kairi?" Cinderella said surprised. "What's going o-"

Kairi didn't stop running to explain. Instead, as Kairi sprinted by she grabbed Cinderella's arm dragging her along.

"We've got the wand!" Kairi huffed as the two girls continued to run. Jaq and Gus were now in Kairi's pack again and Kairi had the wand, which she quickly handed over to Cinderella.

As they continued to run down the hall, trying to avoid guards and Cagehounds, neither Cinderella nor Kairi noticed the Prince as he exited a room. He stared after Cinderella then his eyes widened as he saw the Cagehounds and guards chasing after her.

As Kairi and Cinderella rounded a corner they came to the top of a large staircase. One of the Cagehounds leapt at Kairi and she summoned her Keyblade, still on the form of the Rumbling Rose. As the Cagehounds jaws opened wide to swallow her, Kairi brought her keyblade up and smashed into the Heartless' jaw making it yelp and fall back.

The guards and other hounds were catching up and Cinderella knew they wouldn't be able to out run them on the stairs. Sitting on the railing, Cinderella quickly slid down to the floor below. Kairi followed suit, standing on the think railing she slid down backwards, as Heartless attacked she could defend herself. Once, when a Cagehound nearly clawed her leg Kairi leapt to the other railing, as she continued to slide down.

As both made it to the bottom, not stopping for anything they both continued to run forward, not completely sure where they were going.

"We can't outrun them forever." Cinderella said as she stumbled slightly behind Kairi.

"We don't have to," Kairi replied. "We just need to find Sora, Riku, and Goofy, or the Prince."

A little further ahead was a set of huge wooden doors. Putting on an extra burst of speed Cinderella and Kairi ran through the doors, slamming them closed behind them. As Kairi held them shut Cinderella grabbed a sword from one of the two sets of armor that stood on either side of the doors. Sliding the sword through the looped handled of the doorknobs.

"That won't hold the guards long." Cinderella said as the door began to shake and rattle as the guards threw their weight against the door. Kairi backed away, keyblade raised.

"There not the ones I'm worried about."

The remaining Cagehounds phased through the door, snarling at Kairi, they didn't care about Cinderella. Kairi hefted her keyblade in front of her, feet firmly planted. The Cagehounds circled around Kairi and Cinderella; both girls were back to back.

One of the Cagehounds pounced, at Kairi tackling her. Rolling over Kairi got her feet under the Cagehounds iron chest and kicked it off. Cinderella, who had the wand firmly clasped in her hand, saw a Heartless hound get ready to attack Kairi from behind. Waving the wand over her hand she shouted.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

As the spell hit the Heartless there was a flash of white light and the monster was gone. Kairi continued to fight Cagehounds while Cinderella cast spells, protecting Kairi's back. The two girls had been fighting on the top landing of the room; when they both heard the sound of a door opening, as the last Cagehound was eliminated both Kairi and Cinderella looked down to see the Prince walking through a doorway below.

Cinderella and the Prince stared at each other for a moment. Kairi turned back to the bared door that the guards were still trying to break down, it shook on its hinges.

"Cinderella…" Kairi said backing away from the door. "Reverse the spell!"

Blinking, Cinderella raised the wand over her head.

"Lift the spell, let him remember." White sparks began to fly from the end of the wand. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-"

Before Cinderella could finish the spell, the guards broke through the door and grabbed both Kairi and Cinderella. Right behind the guards was Lady Tremaine, smirking; she yanked the wand out from Cinderella's grip, sliding the white piece of wood into her sleeve.

"No!" Cinderella shouted, struggling to break free.

"What's going on?" The Prince said, running up the stairs. He looked between Cinderella, Kairi, and Lady Tremaine.

Kairi was staying very still, the guards had her by the shoulders and her hands were by her side. Slowly, with one hand, Kairi undid the strings that kept her side pack closed. Jaq and Gus poked their heads, looking up at Kairi. She gave the tiniest of nods but they got the message. Quickly climbing down, the two mice scurried past the guards and hid behind one of the suits of armor.

"My, apologizes Sire, it's a problem with my maid, and her friend." Lady Tremaine said curtsying slightly.

"The red-head is a thief." One of the guards holding Kairi said shoving her slightly.

"Kairi's not a thief!" Cinderella shouted, she turned back to the Prince. "You're under a spell, that's why you don't remember me. Please, just listen –"

In desperation Cinderella stretched out a hand towards the Prince, her fingertips making contact with his hand before one of the guards holding her yanked her hand behind her back. The Prince suddenly felt a burst of heat on his hand where Cinderella's fingers had brushed him and he stared at his hand in surprise. The guards started to pull Cinderella and Kairi down the flight of stairs, Kairi looked over her shoulder to see Jaq and Gus scurrying down the hall.

Lady Tremaine, making a tutting sound, watched Cinderella and Kairi being dragged away.

"Poor dears, obviously out of their minds, magic spells, indeed."

"I hope she'll be alright." The Prince muttered, almost to himself. "I met her just once, but she seemed – I don't know – nice when I met her. There was something about her…"

His voice trailed off as he watched Cinderella disappear from view. After a moment Anastasia and Drizella came through the doorway, Drizella cackled.

"Nice try!" Drizella shouted over the railing down at Kairi. "Wait till Merrikh gets a hold of you!"

"Merrikh…who's Merrikh?" The Prince asked looking at Drizella.

"Ah – n-no one." Drizella said paling slightly and backing away from the railing.

"Um…" The Prince turned to Lady Tremaine. "You'll make sure that their taking care of?"

"Personally, your Highness. I'll make sure that they both get all the help they need."

As the Prince turned and strode back out the door Lady Tremaine waved a hand, making one of the remaining guards step forward.

"I want those two to be ex-" Lady Tremaine began but Anastasia interrupted her.

"Banished!" Anastasia shouted without thinking. Lady Tremaine gave her a furious look and Anastasia scrambled to think of an excuse.

"Well, think about it mother," Anastasia stuttered, She stepped closer so the guards couldn't hear. "I-if we banish them, not only will it be hurting Sora, but this way the Prince won't know about it. What if his spell was lifted?"

Lady Tremaine remained silent for a long time, thinking it over. After several more seconds she looked back at the guards and nodded.

"Put them both on the next ship leaving the Kingdom, I want them banished forever."

….

Goofy was meandering down a random hallway; his shield was at the ready, just in case he bumped into more Nobodies or anymore of those strange new Heartless. As Goofy continued to wander, he started to think about all the strange things that had been happening to Sora and his other friends.

He was still confused by how Enya got to Radiant Gardens, after all she didn't seem like she was a part of the darkness, so it wasn't likely that she opened the doorway herself. Also, the fact that the daggers she wielded seemed somehow connected with Sora's keyblade wasn't anything that he'd ever heard of. Then there was Merrikh, even though Goofy had never actually met Merrikh, he could tell that he was a bad guy. After all, he was trying to hurt Sora, but he wanted him for something too, it was all too confusing for Goofy, all he wanted was to find the wand so they could help Cinderella and get Donald and Enya back.

Goofy was so deep in thought that he almost didn't notice as Jaq and Gus sprinted past him, even then to took Goofy a moment to register the fact.

"Huh," Goofy said blinking a few times, then he shouted after the two mice. "Hey! Wait 'er second!"

Jaq and Gus screeched to a stop. Recognizing Goofy they ran back and started shouting at once. The two jumped up and down, wildly making gestures and babbling so that Goofy couldn't understand a word that Jaq or Gus were saying. Goofy, knelt down on one knee hoping that that would help him distinguish what the mice were saying, still no luck.

"Hold on fellas." Goofy said holding up a hand. "One at a time, what happened?"

"Mean old lady gots Cinderelly!" Gus shouted, looking close to tears. "She got Cinderelly and Kiyee and is gonna send 'em away!"

"We need to go tell Princey!" Jaq said. "He gots to remember Cinderelly!'

Goofy felt his stomach crash all the way down to his shoes, Merrikh was still using Lady Tremaine to hunt them all down, and now she'd not only got rid of Cinderella, but Lady Tremaine was banishing Kairi as well. Thinking fast, Goofy came up with a plan. Standing, Goofy turned back towards the way he'd come, looking over his shoulder he addressed Jaq and Gus.

"Go and tell Sora and Riku what happened. I got an idea!" With that Goofy quickly lumbered down the hall and towards the servant's entrance.

….

Riku was starting to get agitated. He'd looked in every nook and cranny of the palace, but had yet to see Lady Tremaine or the wand. As he rounded another corner Riku could see a shadow disappear just ahead of him. Without thinking Riku summoned his keyblade, and slunk down the hallway, trying to keep quiet, entering the hallway he'd seen the shadow disappear around Riku came face to face with Sora, whose Keyblade was also raised. The two friends stood there for a moment, blades pointed at each other.

"_A shadow wouldn't have made me react like that before." _Riku thought lowering his own Keyblade. _"How much have we changed since we first left Destiny Island?"_

Apparently the same thought had crossed Sora's mind because he looked abashed, quickly de-summoning his Keyblade.

"Find anything?" Sora asked hurriedly, trying to cover his embarrassment. Riku only shook his head. "Yeah, me neither."

Up ahead, there were the sudden deafening sounds of a loud crash and several shouts. Riku and Sora immediately sprinted towards an open door, where the shouts were coming from.

As the two boys ran inside, they saw several nobodies circling the King and several servants. This room was obviously meant for tailoring the King's wardrobe because the room was full of material and other sewing supplies. The King was unarmed except for a large roll of purple material, which he used to swat at the Nobodies. It didn't make any difference.

"I'm warning you!" The King roared as he smacked a Dusk over the head several times with the expensive material. "I am the King! Now leave this instant if you know what's good for you!"

Sora saw that the Nobodies were all standing on an elaborate rug, grabbing one end he gave the rug a hefty yank and pulled the Dusks away from the King and his servants. Riku was waiting for the Nobodies, quickly bringing his keyblade around catching several of them across the chest. One Dusk reached out long white arms towards Sora, who reversed, rolling around the Dusk, it tried to follow Sora's movements only to knot itself. Sora leapt back to his feet and brought Oblivion down on the Dusk, making it disappear.

The two boys straightened from their fighting stances, pounding fist quickly before moving towards the King.

"Are you alright your Majesty?" Sora asked the King, who panting slightly nodded.

"What were those wretched things?" The King asked straightening.

"Nobodies," Riku said, "They're the body and soul that's left behind when somebody becomes a Heartless."

The King's eyes widened and he quickly ushered the servants to the door and out of the room. Closing the door behind them, the King returned his gaze to Sora and Riku.

"How do you know about the Heartless?" The King asked quietly. "This world was once destroyed by the Heartless, it has just again become immersed in light, don't tell me that their back?"

"We know all about the Heartless," Sora said, summoning his keyblade. "Because we're both Keyblade barer's, and yeah, the Heartless are back."

"You're the Keyblade wielder that everyone's been talking about." The King said pointing at Sora. "This is an honor indeed young man."

Sora grinned at Riku, his look clearly said, _"Hear that, it's an honor to meet __**me**__."_

Riku rolled his eyes, arms crossed so he could resist the temptation to smack Sora upside the back of the head. The King continued.

"I say, is it possible that you two could stay here in my castle a while longer, you see my son is getting married tonight and the last thing I want is for the Heartless or those white creatures to show up and destroy my son's wedding."

Before either Sora or Riku could respond the double-doors burst open and the Prince came strolling into the room. The Prince stopped mid-stride when he saw Sora and Riku standing there.

"Speak of the devil." The King said smiling warmly at his son, "if it isn't the groom-to-be, the man of the hour."

"Dad," The Prince said quietly. "Can I talk to you…alone?"

"Nonsense my lad," The King said jovially. "These two gentlemen saved my life and shall be extra security at your wedding; anything that you need to say to me can be said in front of them."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, the wedding I mean." The Prince murmured. "Dad, something's wrong."

"Don't be ridiculous," The King said he pulled on a bell rope re-summoning the servants that he'd dismissed. "You said that you wanted to marry the girl that fit the glass slipper, now you've got her."

"That's what I'm worried about." The Prince whispered as the servants re-entered and continued to tailor the King's garments. The King had not heard his son, but Riku and Sora had. The two friends exchanged looks, something had happened to make the Prince doubt that Anastasia was the girl he'd danced with at the ball, maybe the spell was starting to wear off.

Sora went to take a step forward, hoping to talk to the Prince when he saw something. Jaq and Gus had scurried through the cracked open door and were scuttling towards himself and Riku. Climbing up a nearby table the mice then proceeded to crawl up Riku's arm, then his long silver hair, and then finally both Jaq and Gus settled onto his muscled shoulder. No one but Riku and Sora seemed to notice the two little brown mice.

"We've got a big-big problem." Jaq whispered in Riku's ear. "We need to talk to Princey."

"What's going on?" Riku said quietly, trying to make sure no one but Sora could hear him. "Did something happen to Cinderella, and aren't you two suppose to be with Kairi?"

"Get Prince Prince and we'll explain everythin'." Jaq said. With that the two mice slide down Riku's arm like it was a slide and scurried into a storage room.

Riku and Sora looked at each other again, whatever this was it couldn't be good. Sora made his way over to the Prince who was leaning against the far wall looking out a window.

"Hey, can we talk to ya for a sec?" Sora asked the Prince, jerking his head at Riku and towards the storage room. The Prince raised an eyebrow but after a moment nodded and followed Sora and Riku into the storage room.

"What's this all about?" The Prince asked looking around the small room, there was nothing in the room except a wall full of material and a large table strewn with scissors and thread. A single chair was next to the wooden table.

"Not really sure," Riku replied with a shrug. Instead, he pointed at Jaq and Gus, who had just climbed up onto the table. "Why don't ask them."

The Prince glanced at the table then leapt back in surprise when he saw the Jaq and Gus looking up at him with large black eyes.

"What's going on?" The Prince asked, "Did you bring me in here to see a couple of mice?"

"We need to talk to you Princey!" Jaq said jumping up and down.

"Zoot-Zoot!" Gus said nodding quickly.

The Princes entire face lost all of its color and he sank into the chair.

"D-did those two mice just talk?" The Prince's voice was shaking slightly. It sort of reminded Sora of when Enya had first meet Donald and Goofy.

"Don't worry about it," Sora said grinning slightly. "You'll get use to it."

Once again in their rush to tell their story Jaq and Gus started to ramble at the same time, only random sentences were distinguishable.

"Stepmother got a wand, put a spell on you. Fooled everyone…" Jaq said waving his arms over his head. They continued to babble.

"…came to the palace to marry you!" Gus shouted pointing wildly at the Prince.

"Hold on, just, wait a second." The Prince rubbed his forehead, feeling slightly dazed. "I don't understand a word that you're saying.

The two mice looked at each other for a moment then began their story again.

"Last nights you danced with Cinderelly, the servant girl you meet, at the ball but Prince prince forgot!" Jaq said.

The Prince shook his head. "No, I danced with Anastasia at the ball."

"No, No!" Jaq said stomping a tiny paw. "Princey only think that cause of Cinderelly's stepmother."

"Yeah," Gus interrupted. "Mean old lady put a spell on you, she made you forget all about Cinderelly."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," The Prince said looking at Sora and Riku for help. "You all think that I'm under some kind of magic spell?"

"It gets worse." Jaq said, suddenly solemn. "Kiyee, found the wand and tried to help Cinderelly, but mean old lady caught them and is going to banish them!"

"What!" Sora and Riku shouted. Both of them had known about the magic spell but neither one of them had known about Kairi and Cinderella getting captured.

"Step mother is gonna put them on a ship and send them both far, far away. You've got to remember that you danced with Cinderelly, or she'll be gone forever!"

"Magic." The Prince said looking up at Sora and Riku. "Magic made me think that Anastasia was the girl at the ball?"

The Prince looked at his hand where Cinderella's hand had brushed his. The spot still was tingling slightly. Sora, saw what the Prince was doing, and wondered what he was thinking.

"That would explain everything."

There was a creaking noise and Goofy suddenly appeared, poking his head around the door.

"Goofy there you are," Sora said looking at his friend. "I was wondering where you went. Where've you been?"

"I went back to Lady Tremaine's house." Goofy explained. He had a package in his hands, and he was holding it like it was incredibly delicate. "I went back to get this."

With that Goofy went to the table and pulled the material away, to reveal a glass slipper, the glass slipper that Lady Tremaine had smashed before. Goofy must have gone back and somehow resembled the glass shards of the shoe. The Prince stood and carefully picked up the slipper.

"Wait, the servant girl? This Cinderelly, this belongs to her?"

"Yeah," Riku said arms folded. "But ya know what? Standing around here isn't going to help anything. We need to go and save Kairi and Cinderella, and the longer we stand around here talking, they're going to get farther and farther away."

"I think that Sora's already ahead of you." Goofy said, pointing at the door. Sora was already out of the storage room and was heading towards the main doorway.

Riku was close on Sora's heels, the Prince grabbed Riku's shoulder.

"I'm coming too. I'm going to find Cinderella, I won't lose her again."

Riku nodded and turned to look at Goofy, Jaq and Gus. "You three stay here, keep an eye on the King incase anymore Heartless and Nobodies show up."

Goofy and the two mice nodded.

"Go and save Kairi." Goofy said. "And help the Prince find Cinderella. We'll stay here and try to find the wand too."

With that Sora, Riku, and the Prince ran out into the hallway, ready to go after the people who mattered the most to them.


	7. Castel of Dreams The Pumpkin Carriage

**Yeah, so this is getting kinda frustrating that I NEVER seem to have time to just sit down and write anymore. I love writing this story but with all my homework I never seem to have time to take the time to make sure that the story is up to everyone's expectations because the last thing I ever want to do is disappoint my audience! Well now that I'm done ranting here's part two. Oh, and I know that I said originally that Birth By Sleep didn't happen, well after seeing the English videos, I've decided that BBS did occur. Just goes to show that a story is never done.**

**CHAPTER 5: Castel of Dreams – Back to the Pumpkin Carriage **

As Sora and the others sprinted down the corridor, Sora's mind was reeling. He was angry at himself mostly, he was the protector of the worlds but he couldn't protect the people that he cared about most. Thoughts of Enya, Donald, and Kairi started to run through his head.

When Sora was eight, he and Enya had convinced Kairi, Tidus, Wakka, and the others that they were magic when they made the flames of the fire they lit were blue. Of course it was only because of the salt that was in the driftwood they'd been using, but at the time Sora had almost been convinced that it was really magic. Enya had always been someone that Sora could rely on. She could be annoying and sometimes a little pushy, but she was a great older sister.

Donald had been a great friend since they first met in Traverse town, they might have had their arguments but in the end Donald had always been loyal to him. Sora remembered when he'd lost the ability to wield the Kingdom Key and Riku had been taken over by darkness. Donald and Goofy had to follow Riku because they had to stay with the Kingdom Key, but in the end Donald and Goofy had come back and fought beside him. Then Sora's mind strayed to Kairi.

Sora's face flushed, and it wasn't from running. Sora thought about all the times they'd sat together on the dock or on the paopu tree watching sunsets. He remembered when Kairi had given him her lucky charm. Sora thought about how he'd felt when he'd seen Kairi in the Organization stronghold or how'd he'd felt when they'd embraced. Most of Sora's fondest memories had Kairi in them in some form or another. Sora had already lost Enya and Donald; there was no way that he was ever going to lose Kairi, not again.

"Sora!" Riku's voice suddenly yanked Sora out of his thoughts. He came skidding to a stop when he saw several Cagehounds surrounding them.

The Prince drew his sword looking between the Cagehounds, Sora, and Riku. "What on Earth are these things?"

"Heartless." Riku said, summoning his Keyblade, "Right now's not really the time to explain it."

Sora felt a flash of anger rush through him. He gripped his keyblade and slashed through two Heartless with lightning speed. He ground his teeth as the others began to circle.

"We don't have time for this!" Sora shouted as he viciously cut down another Heartless. Every second that they wasted the further and further away Kairi and Cinderella were getting. Breaking through the Heartless' ranks Sora lead Riku and the Prince down a flight of stairs and out the main door.

However, no sooner had the three men burst out the huge double-doors than more Cagehounds appeared, this time along with several Guards.

"Your Highness," One guard said, pointing his spear at Riku while addressing the Prince. "You need to come back into the palace, you need to get ready for your wedding."

"Don't try to stop me!" The Prince said pointing his sword back at the guard. The Prince raised a hand and with a piercing whistle two horses came galloping out of the nearby stables.

"We can't let you leave Your Highness." The same guard said. "We have strict instructions from Lady Tremaine to keep you inside the palace walls."

Riku, set his jaw, then looking at Sora out of the corner of his eye, Riku brought his keyblade down across the guard's spear, snapping it in two. The Cagehounds were on the edge of the circle, and were now closing in as the guards began to move in as well. Riku gave Sora and the Prince a shove towards the two horses.

"Riku?" Sora asked looking at his friend, who was still in the huge circle of guards and Heartless. Riku looked at Sora, teal eyes flashing.

"What are you waiting for?" Riku shouted, pointing at the gate. "Get going! Save Kairi!"

Sora looked at Riku for a moment before leaping up on the remaining horse and riding away. Riku watched his friend go; he'd seen the look in Sora's eyes when he'd heard that Kairi was in trouble, he'd never seen Sora look so furious and terrified at the same time. As Riku started to fight the Heartless and trying to keep the guards at bay, a thought flashed through Riku's head.

"_I might win this battle,"_ Riku thought as he blocked a spear with his keyblade._ "But I think I just lost my chance at winning a very different one."_

….

Kairi and Cinderella sat in the back of a cart, two soldiers standing by to make sure the two girls didn't try to escape. Cinderella had her hands wrapped around her legs, her brow pressed to her knees as a third soldier walked up to them.

"Time to go." The man said coldly, looking down his nose at Kairi and Cinderella.

Slowly both girls crawled off the cart and started to walk towards the ship that would take them out of the kingdom. As they were loaded onto the ship Cinderella turn around and look back towards the castle before she continued up to the deck. Cinderella noticed that Kairi didn't look upset; instead she was sitting on top of a barrel, resting her chin in a hand. When Kairi saw that Cinderella was looking at her, and that Cinderella looked close to tears, Kairi smiled at Cinderella slightly.

"I'm not worried." Kairi explained, answering Cinderella's unasked question. Cinderella sat on another barrel, looking at Kairi.

"How are you not worried?" Cinderella asked, blue eyes shining.

"Because," Kairi said, looking out towards the palace, the smile still on her face. "I know Sora will come."

"How?"

Kairi thought about it for a moment then she looked down at her hand. She remembered how her hand had felt when Sora's had brushed hers. Cinderella saw what Kairi was doing and she too remembered what had happened when she had touched the Prince's hand and the rush of heat she'd felt on the tips of her fingers. Kairi smiled at Cinderella.

"I just know."

….

Sora and the Prince were galloping down the road, throwing dirt up behind them. At the top of a hill both pulled their horses to a stop when they saw a large ship pulling out of port. Sora paled, then quickly kicked his horse into a full out gallop down the hill, the Prince right behind him.

Sora was leaning low over the horse's mane, pushing the horse to run as fast as it possibly could. As they reached the port Sora could see that they weren't going to make it, the ship was too far away for them to get to it in time. Once again the two men yanked their steeds to a halt, both looking around wildly for a way to get to the ship. Sora noticed it first, further ahead, and on top of a large hill was what looked like an old lighthouse. The ship would pass right by the cliff side.

"C'mon!" Sora shouted leading the way up the hill.

As Sora and the Prince reached the doorway, which was open, the horses started to buck and whinny. Both horses seemed to want nothing more than to avoid entering the abandon lighthouse. Without thinking, Sora and the Prince leapt off their steeds and bolted through the door and started towards the stairway.

Out of nowhere, several Nobodies and Heartless appeared. Sora didn't even slow, summoning his Keyblade he bolted through the white bodies of the dusks, cutting them down as he went. The Heartless ran straight for the Prince who quickly drew his blade and followed Sora's example, every time a Heartless drew near enough for the Prince to reach he brought his blade down.

"_Merrikh."_ Sora thought as he continued to run up the stairs. _"This has got to be Merrikh; he doesn't want me to get to Kairi, but the cowards not willing to try to stop me himself!"_

That only made Sora run even faster. As they finally reached the top Sora could see the mast of the ship slowly sailing past the balcony, without hesitation the Prince and Sora continued to run. Both used the railing as leverage and threw themselves over the balcony.

Plummeting down towards the deck of the ship Sora quickly flipped himself so that he landed feet first. The Prince as he fell grabbed onto a rope that had been swaying in the breeze and used it to slow his descent. Sora and the Prince both looked around, neither of them saw who they were looking for.

Sora felt his stomach sink down into the soles of his shoes. Had they come all this way, just to chase down the wrong ship? Suddenly Sora heard something rushing towards him. Already on edge Sora whipped around, ready to face what every monster was about to attack. Instead, he stumbled back slightly as Kairi collided with him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her face pressed to his chest.

"You came." Kairi said softly, her words even more muted by the fact that her face was still pressed against Sora's chest. "I knew you would."

Sora stood there for a second, before he wrapped his arms around Kairi's waist. He pressed his own face to the top of Kairi's head, breathing her in. Kairi tightened her grip around Sora's neck before she finally pulled away. Both were blushing slightly, but as Sora looked past Kairi, his warm smile became a wide grin.

Looking over her shoulder Kairi saw what he was smiling at; the Prince and Cinderella were looking at each other while holding hands. Both Sora and Kairi saw the green mist that had once covered the Prince's eyes disappear the longer he looked at Cinderella. Finally the Prince smiled and lifted Cinderella up spinning her around. Everything was back to how it should have been, almost.

….

Riku was starting to feel the slow grip of frustration. This wasn't like fighting Heartless and Nobodies, when Riku was fighting those, it was simple, attack and aim to destroy. With these guards however, it was different. Riku didn't want to kill them, he was even trying not to maim them, but his patience was starting to fail.

He was already frustrated with himself, he was wrestling with the feelings that he still had for Kairi and knowing that he would never have those feelings returned. Sora was too much of an idiot to see how much Kairi cared for him. Now here he was traveling to new worlds, exactly like what he always wanted and one of his best friends had been turned stone! Merrikh obviously wanted Sora for something and he also seemed to be deciding on whether or not Enya would be of any use to him, but for what?

Now Riku was angry, losing his patience and was even more confused! Gritting his teeth Riku blocked another guard's attack, when he saw two horses come galloping through the main gateway, heading straight for him. The soldiers all turned to see the Prince riding up, Cinderella on the back of his horse. Kairi and Sora came riding up beside them. As the Prince leapt off from his horse the guards stopped paying attention to Riku and all stood at attention, the Prince helped Cinderella down and both walked hand in hand towards the large double doors. Sora dismounted and helped Kairi do the same, both friends quickly walked over to Riku, who still had his keyblade gripped in his hand.

Riku could see that everything was now alright between the Prince in Cinderella, at the top of the stairs, the King stood and Riku could hear the Prince explaining to him everything that happened. Kairi tapped Riku on the shoulder and he quickly turned to face her, smiling Kairi gave him a quick hug of gratitude. Riku was waiting for the usual flip in his stomach that he use to feel whenever Kairi was close to him. The way he use to do almost anything to impress her, now was only a slight twinge.

"_Maybe I really have given up,"_ Riku thought as Kairi pulled away. _"Funny, I've never given up on anything."_

"So," Sora said as he looked at the soldiers that stood by. Even though they were trying to look serious, Sora could easily see that each and every one of them looked winded. Riku looked like he'd barely broke a sweat, actually he looked annoyed more than anything. "Looks like you held them off pretty well."

Riku nodded and turned back to look at the palace again. Sora could tell that something was on Riku's mind and that no matter how much he tried to figure out what was wrong with his best friend he'd never would. If Riku didn't want someone to know what he was thinking, then no one would be able to figure it out. As Riku continued to watch Cinderella and the Prince and King, something caught his attention. Two floors up, there was a large window that looked out over the gardens, and the curtain was rustling, even though the curtain wasn't open. Squinting, Riku could see Lady Tremaine standing at the window, gripping the curtain and staring at Cinderella with pure hatred.

Kairi saw Riku stiffen and took a step towards him.

"Riku?" Kairi asked slowly, reaching out towards him. Without responding, Riku charged up the stairs, and through the double doors and up the stairs. He wasn't going to let her get away, not this time.

….

Lady Tremaine saw as Riku started to run through the doors.

"It's not over yet!"Lady Tremaine snarled.

"What?" Drizella asked sitting on a large sofa.

"He thinks that he can interfere with my plans," Lady Tremaine continued looking furious. "I think not."

"Who?" Anastasia asked, peeking her head out of a large dresser, as she was looking through new clothing.

"That boy, Riku," Lady Tremaine said yanking the curtain shut. "He's on his way up here, and the Prince went after Cinderella."

"The Prince went…" Anastasia whispered her voice catching in her throat. "I thought that he loved me?"

Drizella peaked out the curtain and gasped. "Mother!"

Hastening to the window Lady Tremaine and Anastasia looked through the panes of glass to see guards running up the outer steps, lead by Sora. A few moments later Lady Tremaine could hear Riku slam into the locked door.

"Tremaine!" Riku shouted smashing into the doors again, this time making it rattle on its hinges. "Give me that wand!"

"It's over." Anastasia whispered, leaning against the window. "They know about the wand and the Prince's spell is broken, it wasn't as powerful as his lov-"

"That's enough!" Lady Tremaine said, grabbing Anastasia's shoulder. "We need to get rid of these children! You of all people should remember Merrikh's threat! Now, you'll do exactly as I say."

By this time the guards were at the door as well and both Sora and Riku were slamming into the door. Lady Tremaine pulled the wand out of her sleeve and quickly waved it, green sparks emitting from the tip, flying everywhere. As Sora and Riku finally broke down the door, the soldiers behind them panting exhausted, they all saw that Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsister's weren't in the room.

"No," Riku said looking into every corner of the room. He slammed his fist into the wall. "NO!"

….

Everyone had re-gathered in a large lounge outside the main throne room. The King sat in a plush chair and looked exhausted. He was slumped in the chair while the Prince and Cinderella sat on smaller chairs nearby. Sora, Riku, and Kairi stood around the room. Goofy sat on the floor, while Jaq and Gus sat on the rim of his hat observing everything.

"Let me see if I got this right." The King said rubbing his temples. "This Merrikh is somehow is trying to use Lady Tremaine and Cinderella's stepsisters to get to Sora. Then, this woman uses magic on my son so that Anastasia could become a Princess and later the Queen."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy all nodded. The King spluttered.

"The nerve!"

The door opened and the Grand Duke came strolling in looking nervous, cleaning his maniacal as he went. As he faced the King he quickly bowed.

"Your Majesty, we have searched every inch of the palace…it appears that they've fled."

The King's head snapped up and he roared, "Then search my entire KINGDOM! I want them found and arrested IMMEDIATELY!"

Cinderella put her hand on the King's shoulder, and he calmed down slightly. The Prince smiled at Cinderella and dismissed the Grand Duke, who quickly scurried out of the room as the King slumped in his chair. Looking around at everyone who was standing around, the King let out a sigh.

"Keep in mind that I'm an old man and my heart can only take so much, please –PLEASE – tell me this is the girl you intend to marry." The king looked between the Prince and Cinderella. Everyone stared between the two of them as the Prince took Cinderella's hand.

"It's just like you said father, from the moment I touched her hand…" The Prince smile at Cinderella, who smiled back, eyes sparkling. The King leapt to his feet, and did a little jig.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Get everything ready! The wedding is on tonight!"

….

Cinderella was standing in front a large mirror. She now wore a simple but elegant wedding dress, and was trying to adjust her veil so that the crown piece was center. Kairi sat on the edge of the bed smiling at Cinderella.

"You look beautiful." Kairi stated warmly pulling her legs underneath her. Cinderella smiled back and continued to adjust her head piece.

"A little to the left." Kairi said and Cinderella moved her head piece slightly to the left till it was center.

"Thank you." Cinderella said, doing a little twirl, making her long, white dress flutter out around her. Kairi stood to leave and was halfway to the door when Cinderella called after her. "Kairi, you care very much for Sora, don't you?"

Kairi froze midstride and felt heat creep up her face. Twirling a lock of reddish-brown hair as she turned back to face Cinderella.

"W-well, of course I do," Kairi said not looking Cinderella directly, "I mean we're best friends."

Cinderella gave a knowing smile. "I meant a little bit more than that."

"Well, I…I."Kairi couldn't think what to say, was it really that obvious. She continued to splutter for a few seconds before she quickly started to the door. "I'm going to go and get your bouquet ready."

With that Kairi was out the door and down the hall, feeling the heat in her cheeks slowly diminish with each step. Cinderella continued to look at the door and laughed slightly.

"_Poor girl,"_ Cinderella thought, _"she's in love with him. He's in love with her, and neither one of them knows it. Maybe someday soon, they'll both figure it out."_

As Cinderella continued to adjust her dress when she heard a voice from behind her, that sent chills up and down her back.

"How lovely you look my dear." Cinderella knew that voice, and she whipped around trying to see where it was coming from.

"Stepmother?" Cinderella said slowly, taking a step away from the mirror. Out of the shadows Lady Tremaine stepped, Lucifer in her arms till the cat leapt down and curled up on the bed. Cinderella backed away slightly, terrified.

"It appears that you were right Cinderella," Lady Tremaine stated coolly, pulling the wand out of her sleeve, "the Prince does want to marry you, and marry you he shall."

Cinderella opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. Lady Tremaine's face twisted into a creul snear and she turned to towards the shadows again.

"Anastasia." Lady Tremaine called. "Anastasia!"

Cinderella peered into the shadows and what she saw made her gasp in horror. For what stepped out was not Anastasia, but Cinderella, down to the same wedding gown. Cinderella put her hands to her mouth, wanting to scream, but the sound wouldn't come.

"Or should I say…" Lady Tremaine said, and the look in her eyes was pure resentment. "Cinderella."

"W-what have you done?" Cinderella finally said, in a whisper. "The Prince won't be fooled by this! You can't-"

"Oh can't I!" Lady Tremaine shouted back. "My life was ruined because of you! Now, I have the chance to set everything right! I'll do whatever I have to, to get what I want, even if that means helping this Merrikh and killing a few pest!"

Cinderella backed up a few more steps, and pressed up against the mirror.

"Besides," Lady Tremaine said, walking over to the Anastasia Cinderella-look-a-like. "The Prince will never know the difference, and when his little friends disappear, well, he'll just think that they've gone onto a different world. It all works in my favor."

"Anastasia," Cinderella said looking at her stepsister. Cinderella could see the hesitation in her eyes and looked at Anastasia in desperation. "Please, don't do this."

"I-I want what you had." Anastasia said slowly.

"But, do you even love him?"

"Love!" Lady Tremaine shouted, shoving Anastasia to the side. "Look where love has gotten you!

With a wave of the wand Lady Tremaine threw green sparks at Cinderella and in a flash of light, she was gone.

"Mother," Anastasia asked looking terrified. "Where did you send her?"

Lady Tremaine said tucking the wand back into her sleeve. "Back to where it all began, back to her pumpkin carriage."

There was a knock at the door and Lady Tremaine quickly stepped back into the shadows while Anastasia stayed where she was. The door opened slowly and Goofy poked his head inside and gave Anastasia a big grin.

"There you are Cinderella!" Goofy said as he lumbered inside. "There's so many rooms in this palace I wasn't sure if I was ever going to find ya!"

"Oh." Anastasia said slowly, still trying to comprehend the idea that she looked like Cinderella. "Alright. Is there something that you wanted?"

"It's time for your wedding." Goofy said suddenly standing at attention and saluting, looking serious. "And it is my duty to get you safely to the chapel. After all, I am the head guard for King Mickey and also a protector for the Keyblade barer, so you're in safe hands miss."

"Oh, right, of course." Anastasia said walking to the door. "M-my wedding."

….

Sora and Riku stood in the hallway, talking.

"We need to find Lady Tremaine." Riku said leaning against a wall, his hands deep in his pockets. "She still has the wand, and until we get it back we're stuck here. We can't leave without a gummi ship and En and Donald are still stone."

Sora nodded running a hand through his hair and letting out a sigh.

"I just don't know where to start." Sora admitted, "This castle is HUGE, not to even start on the rest of the kingdom, even if we did search everywhere in the palace there are a number of other places she could be hiding."

At that moment a set of doors to Riku's left opened and Cinderella and Goofy exited. Sora thought for some reason Cinderella looked different, she was biting her lower lip and fiddling with one sleeve of her dress.

"Hey," Sora said walking up to Cinderella and putting his hand on her shoulder, "you okay, something the matter?"

The look in Cinderella's eyes was that of un-recognition, and Sora felt like something wasn't adding up.

"Um, you're Sora, right?" Cinderella said slowly pointing at Sora uncertainly. Now Sora was sure that something was up.

"Uh, yeah." Sora walking up to Cinderella. "Cinderella, you seem…I dunno, off?

Cinderella started to chew on her lower lip again, looking like something was on her mind. Finally she shook her head.

"No, nothing's wrong. Just nervous I guess." With that Cinderella and Goofy walked down the hall towards the chapel. Sora leaned back, hands behind his head, looking after the two of them. Riku straightened from leaning against the wall and walked over to stand next to Sora.

"What was that about?" Riku asked looking down at Sora. Sora merely shook his head before heading down the hall in the opposite direction.

"I'm not sure," Sora opened the door to Cinderella's room, "but I'm going to find out."

Riku and Sora crept into the room, closing the door behind them silently as they looked around.

"Sora," Riku asked as his friend looked under the bed, in the dresser, and in every corner of the room. "What're looking for?"

"Not really sure," Sora said opening another drawer, "something's off. That's all I know."

With a sigh Riku started to help Sora look, for what he wasn't entirely sure. After a few minutes Sora was feeling frustrated and sat on the edge of the bed, running his hands through his hair. Riku stood near the window.

"Maybe I was wrong." Sora said, not really sounding convinced, "maybe Cinderella was just nervous and I over reacted.

Riku was about to say something when something outside the window caught his attention. Turning to face the window properly, Riku could see green sparks flying over the tree tops, in the direction of Lady Tremaine's manor.

"Sora." Riku said pointing out the window.

Sora stood and walked over to stand next to his best friend. Sora saw the green sparks and knew instantly what it meant, and so did Riku. It was the same green sparks that had surrounded the manor before, when Lady Tremaine had turned back time. Also, it was the same green sparks Riku had seen when Lady Tremaine had used the wand to make the Prince forget about Cinderella. Sora and Riku exchanged a look before they both ran out the door.

….

As Riku and Sora ran out the castle gates they ran straight through the woods towards the manor. In the darkness of the night it was difficult to see where they were going but the two friends kept running, leaping over fallen logs and under low branches.

As they burst through the line of trees they saw where the green sparks were coming from. A giant, warped pumpkin carriage was in the center of the garden. The wheels were thorns and the horse that pulled it around the garden was a giant Heartless, large yellow eyes, and smoking body.

Sora and Riku both summoned their keyblades, getting ready to fight when the horse turned and Riku and Sora could see through the window, which was barred with more thorns. Inside they could see Cinderella.

"No way!" Sora said, his mind reeling. He'd known that something was wrong with Cinderella, but he it hadn't occurred to him that the Cinderella in the castle was a fake!

"Sora! Riku!" Cinderella shouted, reaching through the bars of the carriage window. "Please, help me!"

The carriage was being pulled further into the woods. With that Riku and Sora ran forward, without speaking they both knew what the other was going to do. Riku ran in front of the Heartless horse, grabbing the reins of the horse and leaping onto its back, trying to pull it to a stop as it continued to run through the woods. Sora took a flying leap and landed on top of the carriage. Nearly sliding off one side of the carriage roof, Sora stuck his Keyblade into the side of the pumpkin, helping to brace himself.

As the carriage barreled through the woods, Sora saw out of the corner of his eye and through the trees he could see the outline of the statues of Enya and Donald. That made Sora's blood boil.

"Don't worry Cinderella!" Sora shouted as he started to hack away at the pumpkin carriage, trying to make a hole big enough for her to crawl out. "We'll get you out."

Riku was still trying to get control of the Heartless horse, but no matter how hard he tried, the horse refused to turn either direction or come to a stop. Suddenly, Riku saw something flash past his face and the side of his face suddenly felt white hot. Touching his cheek, Riku saw blood on his hand and turned to see that the thorns that that covered the pumpkin carriage seemed to have a life of their own.

Tightening his grip on his Keyblade, Riku waited till the thorny vines reach out for him again, then brought his keyblade down in a flash, severing the vines from the pumpkin carriage. As they fell away, Riku could see that they transformed back into just a regular vine. The remaining vines continued to attack and Riku continued to keep them at bay, which was difficult, seeing as he was still on the heartless' back.

Sora was still hacking at the pumpkin, and had created a small hole when he felt something wrap around his ankle. Sora barely had time to look down and see the wicked vine around his ankle before it yanked him up. Let out a grunt of surprise Sora dangled upside down, as more vines slithered towards him. Cinderella could see Sora through the tiny hole, her arm reached through, trying to help in some way.

"Sora!" Riku shouted. Riku tried to get to his friend but the vines kept on attacking him and Riku couldn't get past them.

Twisting and squirming, Sora severed several of the vines then the one that was around his ankle. With a crash Sora fell back on top of the pumpkin carriage. Grinning Riku turned back towards the front only to feel himself going deathly pale. The Heartless horse had taken them through the woods and along a cliff side, and no more than a dozen yards ahead the path disappeared over the side of the rock face.

Without thinking Riku balanced himself on the horses back, the horse whinnied and Riku felt his foot slip slightly. Looking down, Riku saw the mane of the horse suddenly turn from black shadow into something almost like liquid steel. The steel mane slowly started to climb up Riku's leg, holding him in place. If the horse was going over the edge, so was Riku. Setting his jaw, Riku used both hands on his Keyblade and brought it down fiercely on the metal around his leg, making it shatter into a thousand pieces. Screaming the horse tripped and stumbled while Riku leapt onto the pumpkin carriage. Sora had his back to Riku and looked over his shoulder when he heard Riku land.

"Riku, I thought you were going to take care of the Heartless?" Sora shouted over the rushing wind.

"I did, but we've got bigger problems." Riku said as he helped Sora cut through the pumpkin carriage.

Between the two of them Sora and Riku were able to make a hole big enough for Cinderella to fit through. Sora knelt down and quickly pulled her onto the roof next to them. All three stared as the edge of the cliff got closer and closer. Sora grabbed Cinderella's wrist pulling her to her feet. Without asking permission, Riku scooped Cinderella up and exchanging a quick look, Riku and Sora both leapt off the pumpkin carriage roof, landing hard and skidding as the carriage flew over the edge of the cliff.

Looking downwards, everyone saw the heartless horse disappear into darkness before it hit the jagged bottom. The carriage however, smashed into a thousand pieces and sickly green mist slowly curled off the remains. The three companions panted slowly, realizing just how narrowly they'd escaped death. At the sound of distant church bells Cinderella turned to face the village and the castle. It looked so far away.

"C'mon." Sora said as he started to run back towards the castle.

"Sora," Cinderella asked scurrying after him. "What are you doing?"

"We're getting you to that wedding!"

….

Anastasia stood at the back of the church, still disguised as Cinderella, waiting for the wedding march to begin. In her left hand she still clutched the seashell that the king had given her. Goofy stood near the back of the church keeping an eye on the guest as they entered. The Prince was already in position at the altar with the priest. Anastasia sighed and looked down at her feet, feeling confused. Kairi came to stand next to Cinderella while waiting for several of the guest to be seated before she went inside.

"Cinderella, have you seen Sora and Riku anywhere?" Kairi whispered to Anastasia. It took Anastasia a moment to realize that Kairi was talking to her.

"N-no I haven't seen them in a while." Anastasia stammered.

Kairi let out a sigh of disappointment and tucked a loose strained of hair behind an ear. She handed Anastasia the bouquet of flowers that she'd rushed off to get before and started to walk away before she stopped and turned back to Anastasia.

"Cinderella," Kairi said slowly, and Anastasia could see that her cheeks were turning bright red very quickly. "You know w-when you asked me about how I…I felt about Sora?"

Of course Anastasia had no recollection of this conversation, seeing as it had been the real Cinderella Kairi had talked to, but she nodded none the less.

"I do have feeling for him, strong feelings," At this Kairi looked down at her feet, "but I'm not sure if its love. I can't tell, I've never felt this way about anyone."

Anastasia looked at Kairi for a moment then looked at the seashell sitting in the center of her palm. Everything that the King had said to her about knowing ones true love swirled through her head.

"Do you feel anything when you touch his hand?" Anastasia said slowly. Kairi looked up in surprise and she remembered how it had felt when Sora's hand had touched hers and she nodded. "Well, someone once told me that you know its love when you touch someone's hand and you feel something special."

Kairi stood still for a moment, then she gave a dazzling smile and gave Anastasia a quick hug.

"Thank you, Cinderella." Kairi said as she quickly ran to get a seat, just as the music started.

Anastasia watched her go, she knew that Kairi was the red-headed girl Merrikh wanted dead and she knew it was all to get to Sora, apparently the boy that Kairi had fallen in love with. Could she really try to tear them apart again, like what she was doing to Cinderella and the Prince? Could she even do that? Before Anastasia could continue on her train of thought the King, smiling came up to her, offering her his arm, taking it slowly, Anastasia started down the aisle.

"Thank you my dear," The King whispered to Anastasia as they walked to the pace of the music, "This is all I and his mother ever wanted, to know that our son has found true love. I just wish that she could be here to see this; it would have meant the world to her, but I know that she's smiling down on us, I'm sure she would have loved you."

Anastasia felt a tightness in her chest that almost made her want to cry. Those words weren't meant for her, they were meant for Cinderella. Anastasia didn't want to hurt anybody, but she didn't want Merrikh to turn her into stone either. Anastasia's mind kept spinning and spinning.

When they finally reached the end of the aisle, the King stepped away, sitting in a large throne and Anastasia stood next to the Prince. As the priest began the vows Anastasia saw a curtain shift slightly and could see the outlines of her mother and sister, watching her. Making sure everything went according to their plans.

"We're almost there." Lady Tremaine whispered, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

….

Kairi was seated in the back row and Goofy stood not far behind her, they both suddenly heard a crashing sound. The door to the church, rattled and Kairi and Goofy could hear the guards outside the doors shouting. Kairi got to her feet when she heard several voices she recognized.

"Please, I must get inside!"

By this time several other people were looking towards the back of the church as well and Goofy had come to stand next to Kairi. Without saying anything they both ran to the back of the church and flung the doors open. Kairi and Goofy stared when they saw Riku and Sora fighting the guards, while Cinderella stood behind them. Kairi looked over her shoulder at the Cinderella in the chapel, then at the Cinderella on the stairs. Goofy scratched his head, feeling confused.

Kairi summoned her keyblade and rushed the soldiers from behind catching the three remaining guards by surprise and knocking them to the ground. Sora didn't stop, he grabbed Kairi's wrist and pulled her back inside the chapel, Riku, Goofy, and Cinderella right on their heels.

The Cinderella at the altar (Anastasia) had taken the Prince's hand before saying 'I do' and the Prince's eyes had widened in shock when he felt nothing.

"I…I…" Anastasia said slowly, looking up at the Prince, "don't."

The entire congregation gasped in shock and horror. Sora and the others came to a standstill in the middle of the isle. Cinderella stepped slowly forward.

"Anastasia?" Cinderella whispered.

"Cinderella." Anastasia responded.

The Prince stared between the two Cinderella's and stumbled back slightly. Then the curtain behind him burst open with a powerful burst of wind, throwing the Prince into the congregation. Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Goofy braced themselves while Anastasia and Cinderella were out of the powerful winds reach.

"You!" Lady Tremaine's voice echoed ominously as she emerged from the shadows, followed by Drizella, "I've given you everything you ever wanted! All you had to do was keep your mouth shut, but you couldn't even handle that!"

"But I want somebody to love me for me!" Anastasia said pressing her hands over her heart, she straightened trying to look brave, "And I can do that without Merrikh or the wand!"

Lady Tremaine stared at her daughter; she titled her head back and let out a cackle of laughter.

"Perhaps you've forgotten the power that I wield!" Lady Tremaine whipped out the wand green sparks flying. "Here, let me remind you!"

With that, Lady Tremaine pointed the wand up at one of the glowing chandelier. Green sparks started to swirl around the chandelier and randomly shoot back down towards earth. Screaming, the congregation all bolted towards the door. Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy all ran forward, letting the people get past them as the four friends charged Lady Tremaine.

Lady Tremaine saw Sora and the others coming and pointed the wand towards them. Magic from the chandelier was hurled down at them. Riku, who was at the back, raised his keyblade and rebounded the magic back up at the chandelier, as the green sparks flew back they hit the chain that held the chandelier up, making it tremble. That gave Riku an idea.

"Goofy!" Riku shouted, grabbing his friend by the back of the shirt.

The two of them stood side by side, as the green sparks flew down at them, Riku and Goofy deflected them, Riku with his keyblade, Goofy with his shield. While Riku and Goofy were deflecting the magic, Sora and Kairi kept Cinderella and Anastasia safe as Lady Tremaine continued to summon Cagehounds and Nobodies. As Sora and Kairi fought they tried to get closer and closer to Lady Tremaine, but there were too many monsters to fight.

"Give up!" Lady Tremaine shouted sending more and more magic flying towards Riku and Goofy and summoning more Heartless. "You pathetic fools can't defeat me! Darkness will rule all!"

"I don't think so!" Sora shouted as he dodged several Heartless.

At that exact moment Riku and Goofy both deflected another blast of magic towards the chandelier, snapping the chain. As the chandelier hurtled towards Earth, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all looked at each other. It a blinding flash of golden light, all three of them stood in master form that the fairies had given them. Each now wielded two keyblades in their hand. Summoning the magic Sora, Riku, and Kairi pointed one of their Keyblades at the chandelier, it stopped in midair.

Then together, the three friends turned their keyblades towards Lady Tremaine, the chandelier following the Keyblades as if it was attached by an invisible string. Lady Tremaine and Drizella let out a piercing scream but it was too late. The glowing chandelier smashed into them, exploding in a whirl of green sparks. Out of the darkness and the dust cloud stepped Lady Tremaine and Drizella, covered in dust and stumbling slightly from the shock. However, if it was possible, Lady Tremaine looked even more insane, dark green eyes flashing.

Raising the wand again with a trembling hand, Lady Tremaine sent another, more powerful burst of green magic, this time directed right at Sora's heart. Sora pointed both keyblades in front of him; a stream of pure white light came out of the tip of Sora's keyblade, crashing into the green magic. Sora gripped his keyblades tightly, gritting his teeth as Lady Tremaine's magic slowly drew closer.

"Help me." Sora grunted looking at his friends.

Goofy came up on Sora's left, putting his hand on Sora's shoulder, Riku came up on his right, also putting his hand on his friends shoulder. Finally Kairi came up behind him; slowly she wrapped her arms around Sora's neck holding him tight while Cinderella put her hand on Sora's head. The bonds of their friendship gave Sora renewed power, and opening his eyes wide Sora felt his keyblades shake as a burst of pure white light emitted from the tip of his keyblades devouring the stream of green magic, and surrounding Lady Tremaine and Drizella.

There was a moment of blinding light, and when everyone could see again, Lady Tremaine and Drizella were gone. Cinderella was the first to move, she quickly ran to the Prince, who had been knocked unconscious from when he'd been thrown back and crashed into the pews. The Prince sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head as Cinderella flung her arms around him, holding him tight. The Prince stumbled slightly, then realizing that it was the real Cinderella, a warm smile spread across his face and lifted Cinderella into the air, spinning her around several times.

Sora and Goofy let out a goop of glee, while Kairi hugged Sora around the neck again grinning; Riku smiled slightly, hands in his pockets. The members of the congregation started to file in once again, looking around and murmuring. However, everyone froze when they saw that Lady Tremaine had dropped the wand and Anastasia had knelt down and picked it up.

Sora and Riku both stepped in front of Kairi shielding her from sight, while Goofy raised his shield, and the Prince and Cinderella clung to each other. Anastasia gave a sad little smile and pointed the wand at herself.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

A swirl of white mist surrounded her and Anastasia once again looked like herself instead of a Cinderella-look-alike. Anastasia folded her hands looking down as the ground.

"Anastasia?" Cinderella said slowly, walking up to her step-sister. Anastasia gently placed the wand in Cinderella's hand; Cinderella gave Anastasia a warm hug. "Thank you."

Waving the wand slowly, the two step-sisters said together, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

In a burst of white mist, the statue of Fairy Godmother appeared in the middle of the room. The stone suddenly melted away and Fairy Godmother stretched and groaned.

"My goodness, I certainly am stiff." Fairy Godmother said hoping down from the pedestal that she'd been on.

Anastasia walked up slowly to the King, she gently touched him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Your Majesty," Anastasia said solemnly, she held out the tiny white shell he had once given her, " I don't deserve this."

The King looked down at the shell still cupped in Anastasia hand. Smiling the King folded Anastasia's fingers around the shell.

"Everyone deserves a chance to find true love."

Anastasia gave the King a warm smile, pressing the shell to her hearts. Then Anastasia threw her arms around the Kings neck, his eyes widened in surprise then gently patted her on the back. Fairy Godmother looked over at Cinderella, who was still being held by the Prince, but seeing the state of Cinderella's dress, Fairy Godmother rolled up her sleeves.

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

In another swirl of light Cinderella's dress that had been mud splattered and torn transformed into an even more beautiful wedding gown than it had been before. The Prince came up to Cinderella twirling her around again.

"Would you two like me to return you to your former lives?" Fairy Godmother asked looking between Cinderella and the Prince.

"Former Lives?" The two of them asked together, looking confused. Sora suddenly remembered that he'd never really explained to Cinderella that time had jumped back.

"Well, you see you two… well, you two were already…" Sora started to say, but he realized that neither Cinderella nor the Prince was listening. "Ya know what…never mind."

Suddenly a thought crossed Sora's mind and he bolted over to Fairy Godmother, grabbing her by the sleeve.

"Fairy Godmother, Lady Tremaine turned two of our friends to stone. Please can you help us?" Sora said looking imploringly up at her.

"Of course I can!" Fairy Godmother said, rolling up her sleeves once again, giving her wand a little flick. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

In a burst of light the statues of Enya and Donald appeared. The Donald statue twitched slightly, then in a burst of flying stone it transformed back into the regular feathered Donald. Donald went barreling forward, as if he'd never been turned into stone. As he ran forward, Donald crashed into Sora, who stumbled back into Goofy, toppling the three friends over in a heap of limbs.

"Sora!" Donald squawked, sitting onto of Sora's chest, shaking his friend by his shirt. "We've gotta run! There's this crazy lady and she's got the a hold of Fairy Godmother's wand and –"

"DONALD!" Sora shouted, throwing his arms around Donald's neck, cutting off his airflow.

Goofy wrapped his arms around both of them, lifting them into the air. Everyone started laughing when they heard cracking stones behind them. Turning, everyone saw the statue of Enya start to crack and crumble, till finally all of the stone fell away. Enya, who had been frozen midstride, stumbled and started to fall to the ground. Riku, who was the closest, ran forward and caught her. Down on his knees, Riku looked down at Enya as she groaned and opened her eyes, the grey of the stone slowly fading away to the blue of her eyes.

"Riku," Enya murmured sitting up slowly, "The wand it's been…hey, where…where are we?"

"Enya!"

Out of nowhere, Sora, Kairi, and Goofy, dragging Donald behind them came barreling towards her. Enya barely had time to look up in horror before all four of them crashed into her. Sora hugged her tightly; Enya looked up at Riku through all the bodies.

"W-what's with t-them." Enya spluttered, choking slightly by the tightness of Sora's arms around her neck. "Ow! Sora, guys get off!"

With that Enya, drew her legs up underneath her and used them to shove Sora off. Sora flopped backwards, Kairi to one side of him, Donald and Goofy on the other. Enya stood up slapping her hands together, them putting them on her hips looking down at her friends.

"Okay little brother, I don't know what's going on or where I am, so you better start explaining."

"Sora, can explain later." Riku said standing and brushing himself off. "But we need Fairy Godmother to get us back to our time."

Fairy Godmother nodded waving her wand, while Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Enya stood side-by-side. Suddenly, what Riku said hit Donald and Enya and they looked each other, eyes wide.

"Time?"

But it was too late, Fairy Godmother raised her wand.

What no one had noticed was a shadowy figure that stood in the upper balcony of the church, looking down on everyone. Merrikh gave a cruel smile.

"Pity, but it appears Lady Tremaine that your usefulness has expired." Merrikh looked down and watched Sora and the others disappeared in a swirl of magic. However, Merrikh focused his attentions on Enya. "It appears that you refuse to die little girl. Very well, **you** may be of some use to me after all. You might be the one to help me control Sora, once and for all."

….

When Sora and the others opened their eyes, they were back in the meadow where they had first met Cinderella and the Prince for their wedding anniversary.

"Hey…We were just…but we were…now…we…" Enya rubbed her head slightly and let out a sigh. "You know what, tell me later. I feel like someone just hit me over the head with a rock."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy exchanged a look and grinned, then they noticed the pavilion in front of them. Sitting at the table was the Prince and Cinderella. Jaq and Gus sat on the table nibbling on crumbs of cake while Anastasia stood talking to Fairy Godmother and laughing.

"Sora?" Cinderella said looking up in surprise. "Is that you? My goodness you haven't changed a bit. I haven't seen you in a year, how are you?"

Sora blinked, standing still for a moment, then remembered and quickly nodded.

"R-right," Sora said rubbing the back of his head. "It's been a while."

Fairy Godmother came up to Sora and the others, smiling. She leaned in and whispered into Sora's ear.

"I fixed your ship as well so you can leave whenever you please, I made it just a bit bigger so you should be more comfortable. Also, thank you. Thanks to you and your friends, Cinderella has had an even better Happily Ever After, than she did before."

Sora nodded and put his hand on Enya's shoulder. "We should get going; we've been here too long."

"What are you talking about; we've only been here an hour or so."

"Again," Sora said grinning, "Explain it all later."

Shaking her head Enya got into position, and raised her daggers into the air. In a flash of light the six friends disappeared back to the gummi ship.

….

As the six friends sat in the new gummi ship, all stretched out and comfortable after Fairy Godmothers adjustments Sora explained everything that had happened. He told Donald and Enya about Lady Tremaine's plans and how she had been working with Merrikh to eliminate Riku, Kairi, Goofy, Donald, and Enya. How Lady Tremaine had turned back time so that Cinderella would not be the one to fit the glass slipper.

It was a good two hours later when. Sora and the others were done explaining and Donald and Enya had run out of questions. For a few minutes afterward everyone just sat in silence, absorbing everything that had happened. Donald kept scratching his head, as if it would make it easier to understand everything that had happened. Enya, let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair, arms folded.

"It's never going to be normal, is it?" Enya muttered almost to herself. She looked around at Sora, Kairi, and Riku. "So, anything else you want to tell me? Anything weirder than being turned to stone, traveling through time and battling evil giant pumpkins?"

Sora grinned as her noticed a new world not far ahead of them.

"How about becoming half fish?"

**I hope you liked part two! Also, you can find some of my artwork on and also on Livejournal – however, livejournal will actually be more like a Jiminy Journal sort of thing. Again, sorry for the delay!**


	8. Atlantica Ariel's Melody

I know that this is really….really… REALLY late and I am so sorry. I just want to thank everyone for their patience and I hope you enjoy part one of chapter six.

**CHAPTER 6: Atlantica – Ariel's Melody**

The grotto was calm and peaceful; several schools of multicolored fish swam lazily by. Suddenly, in a burst of bubbles Sora and the others appeared. Grinning, Sora swam backwards and forward a couple times to get the feel of it again as Donald and Goofy swam up and down.

"Isn't this great guys," Sora said, eyes closed, "I told you that you'd …"

But when Sora opened his eyes he noticed that Enya, Riku, and Kairi were nowhere to be seen.

"Guys?" Sora said looking around, "Guys!"

"Down here."

Looking lower, Sora saw Enya sitting on a large stone, while Kairi floated nearby wobbling uncertainly in the middle of the water. Riku was having better luck but only seemed to be able to swim sideways. Laughing, Sora, Donald, and Goofy easily floated down to hover next to their three other friends.

Kairi tried to turn to look at him but she couldn't seem to turn. Kairi looked down at her tail in frustration. It was beautiful, Kairi couldn't deny that. The light purple scales glittered slightly and the actual fin was long and flowed out like a skirt. Kairi crossed her arms over dark purple seashell top, annoyed that she wasn't mastering the part-fish thing quicker. Sora, taking pity on her, took Kairi's hand gently and turned her around.

"Don't worry," Sora said soothingly, "it took me a couple tries to get the hang of it too."

Riku seemed to mastering it pretty quickly. With a powerful kick of his silver tail, which looked a lot like a shark's tail, Riku swam over to Donald and Goofy. Riku grinned slightly when he looked at what Donald and Goofy had become.

"So," Riku said slowly, "What exactly are you guys suppose to be."

"We're…" Donald started to say, then stopped and exchanged a look with Goofy, "you know I'm not really sure, I think I'm part octopus?"

"Actually you're a squid." Enya said still sitting on the rock. She was examining her fin with a bemused look on her face. It was a light blue, the same color as her eyes, the long fin slowly darkening in color as it went. A dark grey seaweed wrap served as her top. Her tail floated in front of her, bobbing and down in the light currant. "Well…this is weird."

"C'mon Enya," Sora said swimming upside down in front of Enya, grinning. "You were always a great swimmer back on the islands."

Enya smirked and flicked Sora on the nose, startled Sora swam backwards. Enya grinned at him and pushed herself off the rock, hovering uncertainly in the water. "I am a great swimmer…when I have two legs. I'm not use to having a fin."

"Don't worry," Goofy said swimming over so he was eye level with Enya. "We'll show ya the trick to it."

….

After several minutes of practicing Riku, Kairi, and Enya were swimming around the grotto with ease. Enya, was grinning like Sora hadn't seen her smile in some time. In an outburst of joy Enya suddenly started doing large, arching, back flips towards the ceiling of the grotto, laughing as she went.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Enya shouted down to Sora and the others. Still smiling, Enya floated back down, in slow spirals.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself." Sora laughed hands behind his head. "You guys caught on quick."

"Of course." Riku said with a smirk.

"So, where's Ariel?" Kairi asked, looking around. "Isn't she the mermaid you told us about?"

"Yeah," Sora said turning to look at Kairi, hands still behind his head. "she might be in the palace."

With that Sora turned and with a flick of his tail, led the way through a stone archway towards the palace.

….

As the six friends all swam side-by-side they all started to notice that they were the only ones around. Every fish had seemed to have disappeared. Not a single creature was seen.

"Is always this, empty?" Enya said slowly looking around.

"No…" Sora said slowly, feeling a pang of concern. "It's not."

Everyone continued to swim towards the palace. As they entered Triton's throne room Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at the empty throne. Donald and Goofy even swam around the throne room several times to make sure no one was there.

"Something's up." Sora said looking around the deserted room.

Suddenly out of nowhere a tiny seahorse went whizzing past Sora, Enya, Kairi, and Riku. Without thinking Riku reached out and grabbed the little creature by the curled tail.

"Hey!" The seahorse squeaked looking highly annoyed. "Let go of me! I'm going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Kairi asked taking the seahorse gently into her hands, holding him up to eye level. Everyone crowded around to hear the seahorse's tiny voice.

"Meeting Ariel's daughter of course!" The seahorse said with incredulity. "Ariel's finally returning to the sea so we can all meet Melody. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Without another word the seahorse went whizzing towards the surface and disappeared from view. Donald and Goofy floated next to Sora in disbelief.

"What did he mean by return to the sea?" Goofy said, looking confused.

"Only one way to find out." Sora said and without looking to see if the others were following, Sora started to swim quickly after the tiny seahorse. Everyone else exchanged a quick look, before they too, sped towards the surface.

….

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were the first to surface. Sora spluttering slightly shook his head, spraying salt water everywhere. Enya, Kairi, and Riku rose out of the water a moment later, their own hair plastered to their faces. Looking around everyone saw a large ship only a little ways off, completely surrounded by mermaids, mermen, fish, and every other type of sea creature, all of which were smiling and looking up at the deck. Sora squinted, trying to see what they were looking at. When he saw who was on the deck is jaw dropped. Ariel was **standing** on the deck next to Eric, and she was holding something gently in her arms. King Triton was in the water right in front of his daughter smiling up at her.

"C'mon," Sora said waving at everyone, "let's get a closer look."

Everyone leapt into the air and dove back into the water swimming as fast as they could towards the boat. Swimming back and forth, weaving through the crowd of merpeople and sea creatures Sora and the others finally reached the ship. Everyone surfacing near the anchor chain of the boat. Sora stared up at Ariel and Eric in awe. Ariel was smiling, cuddling the little baby girl in her arms. Even from down in the water everyone could get a good view of the baby. She had black hair, with the slightest curl. She had pale blue eyes, just like her mother.

"She's so tiny." Kairi said in awe staring up at the baby in Ariel's arms.

"She looks like her moder." A voice said beside Kairi. Turning everyone saw a crab sitting on the chain of the anchor.

"Sebastian!" Sora, Goofy, and Donald all exclaimed together. Sebastian turned and did a double take.

"Hey mon! Whadda doin' back in da sea?" Sebastian said scuttling down the chain to get closer to everyone. "Did ya come to see lidle Melody?"

"We just found out." Sora said smiling. "So I guess a lot has happened since we were last here."

"You can say dat again. King Triton saw how much Ariel and Eric were in love and decided to give Ariel er legs. Soon after day were married and now day got a daughter, lidle Melody."

At that moment King Triton created a giant wave, allowing him to rise out of the water and be at eye level with his daughter and son-in-law. Slowly, he reached out and touched his granddaughter's cheek. Giggling, Melody grabbed King Triton's finger with her tiny hands and shook it slightly, as if to say hello. Laughing, the King raised his triton and waved in over his head creating a giant rainbow over the ship. Everyone burst into applause.

Still smiling Ariel looked around at the crowd and saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy and her smile grew even wider. Carefully handing Melody over to Eric Ariel walked over to get closer to Sora and the others.

"Sora! It's wonderful to see you!" Ariel said leaning over the railing. "You too, Goofy, Donald, it's wonderful to see all of you!"

"You too!" Sora said with a wave. "Congratulation!"

Ariel looked over her shoulder at Eric, who was smiling down at Melody, Ariel turned back to look at Sora and the others. "Thank you."

"Oh, I want you to meet some friends of mine." Sora called up to Ariel, "This is Riku and Kairi, my best friends and this is Enya, my sister." Sora pointed to each of them in turn, everyone gave a quick wave.

"It's nice to meet all of you too." Ariel said, tucking a strand of bright red hair back into its bun.

"Ariel," King Triton said looking at his daughter. "I have a gift for little Melody."

Ariel nodded and turned back to look down at Sora and the others. "I'll see to you all later; we have a lot to talk about."

Ariel walked back to stand next to Eric, taking Melody back carefully in her arms.

"My precious Melody," King Triton said fondly he held out a large golden locket, in the shape of a seashell, "I give you this locket, so that you will always remember that a part of your heart belongs to the sea."

Flipping the locket open a bubble of light slowly floated out. As the light disappeared everyone could see a smaller version of the Atlantica inside the bubble, tiny merfolk swimming around it happily. Melody giggled again, clapping her hands and smiling, a cheerful, tinkling song came from the locket. Triton closed the locket carefully and went to put it around his granddaughters neck. But as Ariel held Melody out slightly so the Triton could get the chain around the baby's neck a long black tentacle burst out of the water and wrapped itself around Melody, pulling her towards the water.

"Melody!" Ariel screamed reaching out after her daughter. Emerging from below the water's surface was a woman who was tall, and thin, her skin was a grayish-green and her hair white. She was also half octopus and looked vaguely familiar.

"Ursula's crazy sister!" Sebastian gasped in horror. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared in shock at the half-octopus woman as she slid across the water; baby Melody still clutched in one of her many tentacles.

"I bet I'm a bit of an unexpected surprise," the octopus said with a cackle of laughter.

"Morgana." King Triton said in fury raising his triton in front of him, it began to glow slightly, "Surrender the baby or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Morgana said slowly, dangling Melody over the water threatening. King Triton backed off slightly and Morgana smirked. "Oh I just love a good party. Ursula simply would have loved to have come but something came up."

With that Morgana rose out of the water and sat on the edge of the boat railing. "Now what was it? Oh – that's right…" Morgana saw Sora and the others in the water and her look grew even colder. "you all shisca-bobbed her!"

Morgana looked down at Sora with burning eyes. "You're the one who killed her aren't you? The little keyblade brat! You didn't play fair with all your help." Morgana looked at Donald, Goofy, Ariel, and Eric. "Well, that's quite alright…neither do I. Oh, Undertow!"

Out of the water a huge shark appeared shoving through the crowd of mermen and women till he was right below Morgana and baby Melody. Morgana dangled the baby over the shark, his teeth glittering in the sunlight. "Now hand over the triton, or your precious granddaughter, will be shark-chow!"

Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi dove under the water hoping to sneak up on Morgana and get to Melody before anything happened. Just below the surface dozens of underwater heartless swam, circling the group. Sora summoned his keyblade and the others followed suit each one attacking the heartless.

Enya, who was still on the surface could see the heartless and looked at Morgana. King Triton was slowly reaching out to hand over his triton, Morgana still had Melody. Looking around desperately Enya saw a large beam that was horizontal to the deck, the only thing holding it back from swinging loose was a single rope. Enya saw that Ariel had noticed the same thing and Enya nodded slightly. Ariel understood and pulled Eric back a few steps.

"What, giving up on your daughter already?" Morgana cackled. "That's perfectly alright, I'll get the triton…revenge poor unfortunate Ursula, and gain all the powers of the ocean! If I were you I'd give up too."

Enya quickly summoned her daggers and threw one up at the ship, towards the rope. The dagger sliced through the rope and the beam came swinging down, crashing right into Morgana. She went flying back and Melody came loose from Morgana's tentacle. Sora, who had just defeated the final heartless saw what was happening and quickly swam towards the surface, ready to catch Melody. Undertow, the shark, barreled into Sora, throwing him deeper into the water. The King turned his triton on the shark in a crack of gold light the shark transformed into a little piranha.

Enya who was still on the surface swam as fast as she could and caught Melody before she could fall into the water. Sora and the others resurfaces and all let out a sigh of relief when they saw Enya holding the little baby.

"Way to go Enya!" Sora shouted, punching his fist into the air. Enya gave him a quick smile. Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her waist and she was yanked back.

"Enya!" Riku shouted. A large tentacle had wrapped itself around Enya and Morgana slowly resurfaced, eyes blazing in anger. Morgana reached out and pulled Melody from Enya's firm grasp.

"No!" Enya shouted trying to grab Melody back, but Morgana held her out of reach. Morgana tightened her grip around Enya, bringing her closer.

"Stay out of my way brat." Morgana hissed, with that she threw Enya back into the water. Cackling with glee, Morgana disappeared along with Undertow, and baby Melody.

"Melody!" Ariel screamed again. "Melody!"

….

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all dove under the surface to where Enya was floating, looking dazed.

"Enya!" Sora said swimming over to his sister grabbing her shoulders. "Are you okay!"

Enya shook him off and looked at everyone. "Melody…is she…"

"She's gone." Kairi said sadly. Enya looked furious, she tried to swim towards the surface but Riku grabbed her arm yanking her to a stop.

"What's your problem?" Riku said sternly.

Enya pulled away and continued to swim to the surface, over her shoulder she shouted down. "I should have been able to save her!" Enya said disappearing from sight.

"Enya…" Sora said watching her go.

"She blames herself," Kairi said looking down at her fin. Everyone turned to look at Kairi in surprise. "Enya – she – she blames herself. The same way she blames herself for when we all disappeared. She told me…when you two went to look for Aladdin's father. She thinks she should have been able to save us, especially you, Sora."

Sora looked up again and watched Enya swim away. Enya broke through the surface and swam towards the ship. Triton was barking orders at all of his guards. "We will not rest till that mad woman is found and my granddaughter brought back to us!"

The mer-soldiers scattered diving into the water and beginning their search. Enya didn't pay attention to the other merpeople, she could only stare up at the ship. On the deck Ariel was crying into Eric's shoulder, while he held her tightly. The scene was sickeningly familiar, it was exactly how her parent's had looked when they found out that Sora had disappeared.

Riku swam up beside Enya, he glanced between Enya and Ariel with Eric. After what Kairi had just told them, it wasn't hard to guess where Enya's mind was. Riku carefully put his hand on Enya's shoulder; she blinked and turned to look at Riku. "Hey…it's not over yet. Let's try to help with the search."

Enya nodded slowly and swam alongside Riku following Sora and the others who were already heading towards King Triton. The mer-king sighed and pressed his hands over his face obviously distraught. Sora, slowed slightly, floating in the water in front of King Triton.

"Um…Your Majesty?" Sora said slowly, King Triton moved his hands and looked down at Sora and the others. "We wanna help look for Melody."

King Triton shook his head, "No… you're children, and it might be dangerous."

Sora felt the urge to roll his eyes, the King acted as if he'd never experienced danger. "We can handle it."

Ariel leaned over the railing wiping her eyes, "Daddy…please let Sora and the others help… I would feel better knowing that he was helping in the search."

King Triton kept silent for a long moment, Sora was about ready to start searching on his own, not caring what King Triton thought about it, when Triton nodded. "Very well, you may help in the search, but be careful; Morgana is more like Ursula than in just appearances."

….

Sora felt somewhat frustrated. He had hoped to keep the group together, after all they had only recently gotten Donald and Enya back, but once again, they had all separated. Sora knew that it wasn't practical to keep such a large group together, but that hadn't made him feel any better about the situation. They had all divided into group again, trying to keep at least one person who had been to Atlantica with someone who hadn't. Even that hadn't worked out.

Sora was staying with King Triton, apparently the royal guard wanted to know that their King was good hands. It would have been a compliment any other day. Donald was staying near the ship as it went alone the coast. Donald could use magic to help keep the ship safe in case of coral reefs. Riku and Kairi were sticking together, while Goofy and Enya were also together.

Sora let out another sigh. As much as he loved the friends that he had made in the other worlds, he was still closest with the ones he'd made on Destiny Island, Donald and Goofy were added to that of course. He wanted them all together; after all he had spent nearly two years trying to make that happen. So, why was it so hard? Sora shook his head, he had no idea, and he probably never would. The best thing to do now was try to find Melody and hope that this mess was taken care of quickly.

….

Enya swam as fast as she could. She'd been searching with Goofy when something had caught her eye, a flash of dark red. As soon as she'd seen it Enya had felt that cold chill run down her spine, Merrikh. It had to be him. Barely glancing at Goofy, who was quite a ways a head of her, Enya had turned around and followed. If she was wrong, she was wrong and would turn around and catch up with Goofy. If she was right, well Enya had a pretty good idea what she would do if she ever saw Merrikh again; there was a score to settle.

With a flick of her tail Enya continued to follow the streak of red, but no matter how fast she swam it always seemed to be a little faster. Finally, rounding a corner Enya came to a stop. There was no one there, not a single fish, or any living creature, and definitely no Merrikh. Sighing Enya pressed the palms on her hands to her eyelids. Enya could have sworn that she'd seen something, or had her eyes been playing tricks on her. Maybe she'd wanted to see Merrikh, that way she could give him her payback.

Enya suddenly looked up when she heard something, or someone, humming and cackling. Glancing around, Enya saw a small fish swimming not too far away. Not just any fish, a tiny piranha, Undertow. Undertow hadn't seemed to notice Enya and continued to swim along; he was definitely heading somewhere. Enya knew that this fish with the overbite was working with Morgana, and if Undertow was going to Morgana, then that meant…

Enya was following Undertow before even she knew what she was doing. Making sure to keep her distance, Enya followed Undertow around every twist and turn. The water slowly started to get colder and colder, Enya even noticed chunks of ice floating near the water's surface. Suddenly Undertow came to a halt, floating in the middle of the water. Enya slowly advanced, summoning her daggers as she went. Undertow turned in the water, a smirk on his fishy face.

"Okay small-fry," Enya said slowly, pointing a dagger at the piranha, "Where's Melody?"

"You know what sweetheart…" Undertow said still smirking, "You should really be more worried about yourself."

Suddenly, what felt like tight cords, wrapped themselves around Enya's arms yanking her back. Looking over her shoulder Enya say two stingrays had their long, thin tails wrapped around her arms holding her in place. Gritting her teeth Enya struggled, only to receive an electric shock, that made her gasp in pain. Then, Enya heard a cackle of laughter behind her, looking around Enya saw Morgana swimming towards her, a cool smirk on her face.

"Well what is this Undertow, what little sardine have we caught in our trap?"

"Where's Melody?" Enya shouted trying to get at Morgana; she received another electric shock for her efforts.

"Oh don't worry sweetheart," Morgana coed in a cold voice, "little baby Melody is perfectly safe…and she can stay that way, if you help me."

Enya's head snapped up glaring at Morgana, "And why would I ever do anything to help you?"

Morgana floated in front of Enya, that cold smirk still on her face, "Because if you don't little Melody will never see her dear mommy and daddy again. Do you really want to be the one responsible for tearing apart a family when you had the chance to save them?"

Enya felt as if she'd just been slapped across the face. What Morgana had just said had struck home in more ways than one. Could she really sit here and watch another family be torn apart…like hers had been? Enya sighed and bowed her head. "What do you want me to do…"

"That's much better," Morgana waved the two stingrays away, leaving Enya and herself along in the middle of the water. "Now, all you have to do is get me the triton and come back here… then I'll give you baby Melody and everyone can go back to the way it was."

Enya kept silent, she knew that it wouldn't be that simple but what choice did she have? Enya nodded and Morgana's smirk grew, "Such a good little sardine." Morgana pinched Enya's cheek who quickly slapped Morgana's hand away, glaring.

"Just bring the triton to me," Morgana said as she swam towards the surface, Enya following her. When they both emerged from the water Enya say a large cavern created entirely of ice. Morgana pointed at it, "bring the triton to that cavern and I'll give you Melody in exchange."

Enya nodded again slowly, feeling disgusted with herself, as she turned to swim away Morgana's long fingernails dug into Enya's arm yanking her to a stop. "Don't think that you can run off and tell your little friends about this… because if I discover that you betrayed me… you'll regret it."

Enya yanked her arms free of Morgana's grip, "I won't."

With that Enya turned and dove under the water quickly heading towards Atlantica again. Morgana watched her go still smirking. "Fool, she has no idea what she's gotten herself into."

….

Everyone had agreed that every two hours or so they would regroup to report if they had discovered anything. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were already together waiting for the others to show-up. So they waited, and waited, and waited. Sora had actually resorted to swimming back and forth, the closest he could get to pacing underwater, when Donald came swimming along.

"Did you find anything?" Sora asked quickly swimming up to Donald. Donald shook his head sadly rubbing the back of his feathered neck.

"Nothing, Prince Eric is still looking along the coastline but we haven't found anything. What about you guys?"

Riku and Kairi glanced at each other then also shook their heads. Kairi twisted a strand of hair, "We looked everywhere, the sunken ship, the grotto, but I can't imagine that Morgana would keep her anywhere near Atlantica."

"On top of that Melody is human," Riku pointed out, "There's no way that Morgana's keeping her somewhere underwater."

"That's true," Sora said folding his arms, "But where…" At that moment Goofy came swimming up to them.

"Hey guys!" Goofy shouted waving a flipper, "You find anythin'?"

Once again everyone shook their heads and there was a group sigh of discontent. Then Sora noticed something and it made his heart drop. "Goofy… where's Enya?"

"Oh she's right he-" Goofy turned around, expecting to see Enya floating right behind him. Of course, she wasn't there. "Uh…."

"Great!" Riku snapped, highly annoyed, "Now Enya's missing too! Big surprise!"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora said turning around to glare at Riku.

"It means that Enya was always someone that thought she could handle everything on her own, and usually ended up in a worse scrape then she started off with." Sora had no argument for that. It was pretty much the truth. Sora sighed.

"Well we've got to find her, she's my sister."

Kairi nodded, "We should split up again… everyone on their own this time… we'll cover more ground that way. Besides, we still have to find Melody; maybe Enya was following a lead or something and is after Melody."

Everyone nodded again and quickly swam in different directions. Sora glanced over his shoulder to watch his friends go their separate ways before he focused forward. "Hold on sis, we're coming."


	9. Atlantica Morgana's Revenge

**CHAPTER 6: Morgana's Revenge**

_I know this is insanely late, and to all my followers I give you my deepest apologies. Stupid writers block… well here's part two please enjoy._

…_._

Enya swam slowly through the water lost in thought. How did this keep happening to her? She had been the victim of one terrible situation after another, and she hated it. She had always been one of the better fighters when she and her friends had been younger, now however that seemed to have changed. Enya remembered Riku being easily the best fighter amongst the four of them. After watching the others fight the Heartless she would say that Sora was just as good, maybe even better. Enya had never been one to fall into the damsel and distress part and she wasn't about to start now! She would have to find a way to save Melody and also make sure that Morgana didn't get a hold of the triton, but how?

What Morgana had said gnawed at Enya though, telling her that she would be responsible for tearing Ariel's family apart. It had struck home. Enya had seen what losing a child did to a family, what it had done to her family. How much had changed since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had disappeared, how much Enya herself had changed? She knew things would never be the same, the scars could heal over yes, but they would always be there. The first few months of those nearly two years had been the worst. Enya still remembered her mother crying almost every night, how grave her father had seemed…

_Enya could only stare up at the sky. Right over head there was a whirling vortex; it seemed as if the storm was coming from the center. Enya saw Riku, and Sora had joined him; both were on the highest hill, right next to the paopu tree. Both were staring up at the whirling blackness. _

"_Sora, Riku!" Enya sprinted towards them. Suddenly black shadows surrounded her and glowing yellow eyes stared unblinking. Over the sound of the whirling storm Enya could hear a single word, coming out of nowhere. Heartless. One of the black creatures, the heartless, leapt at her. Grabbing a stick on the ground Enya smacked the shadow right in the chest, sending it flying back. The branch kept them at bay but it didn't seem to be hurting them. Another shadow attacked; she thrust the pointed branch right into the monsters chest, but all the shadow did was slide back as if nothing had happened. Enya dodged around them, running full out towards Sora and Riku. When Enya made it to the top of the hill, a black mist had surrounded Riku and Sora, dragging them in. Sora was reaching for Riku, but couldn't quite make it._

"_NO!" Enya leapt towards them reaching out to yank them out of the darkness, but it was too late; they were gone. She toppled to the ground landing face first in the dust, the wind blowing around her, trees being torn away, buildings being shaken to their very foundations. None of it mattered; Sora and Riku were gone, and then, all went dark. _

_Enya sat bolt upright in bed, gasping, covered from head to toe in a cold sweat. She couldn't breathe; her heart was constricted in a vice like grip. The pain was overwhelming to the point where Enya thought she would pass out, and then the icy hand that held her heart and lungs seemed to release and Enya took several long shaky breaths. Another attack, the loss of breath hadn't been the only terrifying event, the dream occurred almost every night. Enya tried to calm herself. _

"_I-it was a dream…" Enya told herself over and over again, "nothing more than a dream…" _

_But that wasn't a dream; it was a memory, a very dark, painful memory. How often in the last few months had Enya suffered through that dream? Over and over again, it played at the back of her mind. Groaning Enya flopped onto her pillow, taking several deep breaths trying to make her heart slow to its regular pace. Rolling onto her side she could see the photo of her and Sora sitting on her bedside table. It had been taken several years ago, both siblings were grinning up at the camera, arms draped over each other's shoulders. _

_Feeling tears pricking at the corners of her eyes Enya quickly got to her feet, stood, and went down the stairs. She needed to escape the haunting face of her little brother, even if it was just a photograph. Just before her bare feet could touch the bottom step she heard a heart wrenching sob. Enya froze; her mother was sitting on the couch her father holding her._

"_W-why…" Her mother sobbed, "Why Sora…" Enya's stomach sunk and her legs started to shake. Sora, they'd been avoiding saying his name since he'd disappeared, six months ago._

"_I know," her father whispered, stroking his wife's hair soothingly, "I know…" _

"_But why…" Enya's mother's voice pitched, "Why didn't she protect him?"_

_Enya felt her whole body go numb. Her mother's words echoed over and over again. Slowly, Enya backed up the stairs, making sure that neither of her parents saw her. Stumbling back into her room Enya closed the door sliding down to the floor._

"_It's my fault… It's all my fault…" Tears slid down Enya's cheeks, "Sora…I'm so sorry…" _

Enya yanked herself out of the memory. She couldn't dwell on that now, she had to save Melody. With a flick of her fin Enya sped along passing all sorts of creatures. In the cold waters of the arctic sea she even passed a baby penguin and walrus, but she couldn't stop. Enya continued to swim along heading back towards Atlantica, trying to form a plan.

….

Sora quickly swam along; he had decided to head back the direction Goofy had come from. He figured retracing his sister's steps was probably the best place to start. As Sora continued to swim he kept thinking about Merrikh. Who was he, and what did he want? He was obviously interested in having Sora help him, but help him with what? The other obvious thing was that Merrikh seemed determined to get rid of Enya.

It had been Merrikh that had sent Sa'luk and Cinderella's stepmother after Enya. Sora figured that Merrikh was trying to eliminate Sora's closest family and friends and had settled on Enya first, or for some reason, Merrikh thought Enya was a threat. Maybe both.

The water was turning colder and colder and Sora had completely lost track of the time and his location. Glancing up, Sora realized how off course he really was. There were icebergs all around and he even saw a baby penguin and walrus swimming towards him, directly at him actually.

Before Sora knew what was happening, the little penguin swam right into him. That would have been alright, it the walrus hadn't followed suit. Sora was sent flying back and smashed into one of the many icebergs. Dazed, Sora rubbed the back of his head only to see that the penguin was clinging to it. The walrus had his massive flippers wrapped around Sora's fin. Both were shaking.

"Hey," Sora said looking between the two terrified animals, "What's wrong?"

"It-It's gonna eat us!" The penguin squeaked, its grip tightening around Sora's arm.

"What is?" Sora looked around quickly, trying to spot whatever predator these two were fleeing from.

"Th-that!" The walrus pointed a shaking flipper back in the direction they had come. Squinting, Sora could see a large shadow appear on the wall of a cavern. Summoning his keyblade in his free hand (the other still being occupied by the penguin) Sora prepared himself for whatever was coming. The shadow grew larger and larger as the creature approached as it finally emerged, it revealed-

"A guppy?" Sora lowered his keyblade as the startled little creature scurried away. Sora turned to face the two friends that where now cowering behind him, "**That** is what you two were so scared of?"

"Not that!" The walrus said, wide eyed. His gaze shifted to behind Sora and his voice was shaking, "T-That!"

Sora turned back to see a huge shark. Its teeth glinting in the dim light that made it this far below the water.

"SHARK!" With that the penguin and Walrus bolted, and the shark charged after them, gaining swiftly on them. Sora positioned himself between the shark and the fleeing duo.

"Hey back off!" Sora shouted slamming his keyblade down across the shark's forehead. The huge predator lurched backwards in surprise, its angled head gashed and bleeding. Obviously, it was unaccustomed to being attacked and not doing the attacking. The initial shock vanished almost immediately and it snapped its pointed teeth at Sora, trying to swallow him whole.

Dodging, Sora quickly swam upwards, the shark easily followed, despite its massive size. Sora twisted and turned hoping to get enough distance between himself and the shark to turn around and attack but the shark easily kept pace. Swimming into a tight cavern the beast couldn't follow, though it certainly tried. Taking his keyblade in both hands Sora brought the blade down again, this time on the very end of the monsters nose.

Stunned, the shark quickly backed off, turned tail and fled, disappearing into the distance. Cautiously Sora swam out of the cavern. After being absolutely sure the shark was gone he swam back to where the penguin and walrus were hiding. They were hiding behind their shaking fins, as if that would make all the scary things go away.

"It's okay now," Sora assured them, de-summoning his keyblade, "it's gone now."

The walrus lowered its flippers first; looking around to confirm the shark was gone he tapped the little penguin next to him. "Hey Tip, he's telling the truth, it's gone!"

Tip, the penguin, slowly peeked out and glanced left and right.

"Hey…your right Dash! That thug really is gone!" he beamed up at Sora, "gee thanks a lot mister!"

"It was nothing," Sora said thumping his fist against his chest grinning, "happy to help!"

"My names Dash," The walrus said swimming up to Sora, "and this is my friend Tip."

"I'm Sora," he said shaking each of their flippers in turn, "I'm glad I could help but I've got to go."

"What's the rush?" Tip shouted swimming right up to Sora's face. It got to the point where Sora had to go slightly cross-eyed to keep him in focus, "we didn't even get to really thank you yet!"

"No need to thank me," Sora swam around the two in a random direction, "I just need to find someone and I'd rather find her quickly before she gets herself in too much trouble."

"Who?" Dash asked swimming alongside Sora.

"My older sister," Sora replied still swimming in the same random direction, "she swam off on her own and I really need to find her."

"Does she have a blue fin like yours?" Dash asked.

"Long brown hair and big blue eyes?" Tip added. Sora came to a stop and turned to look at Tip and Dash in surprise, their description was pretty on the mark.

"Where did you see her?"

"Not far from here," Dash replied, happy that they could help their rescuer, "she seemed pretty distracted, looked like she was heading towards Atlantica."

"Really? Thanks!" Sora shouted, thrilled to have a lead, "Which way is Atlantica?"

"We'll take you!" Dash offered, putting his huge flipper on top of Tip's head.

"We will?" Apparently Tip wasn't as thrilled by the idea as Dash was.

"Of course!" Dash said looking down at his friend, "We've always talked about being adventures/explorers! Now, we have the chance to do that, help save a damsel in distress, and help a friend!"

Sora snorted, "Enya isn't really the damsel in distress sorta girl…but if you could take me back to Atlantica I'd really appreciate it!"

Tip looked like he wanted to argue but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. After a moment he sighed in defeat, "Sure, let's go."

"Great!" Dash exclaimed grinning, "Follow me Sora!" With that Dash began to swim off towards Atlantica, and hopefully Sora thought, to Enya as well.

….

The water had slowly grown warmer and warmer the closer Enya had gotten to the underwater kingdom. Hiding in the shadows to make sure she wasn't seen, Enya snuck closer to palace and into the deserted throne room. The triton was resting next to the throne. Enya slowly swam over to the triton but hesitated. What was she doing? She was about to steal the King's triton for a crazy, vengeful maniac, but if she didn't, who know what would happen to Melody. As Enya reached out for the royal scepter she heard someone coming and ducked behind a pillar. King Triton and Kairi swam inside the throne room deep in discussion.

"…so now Enya's missing too!" Kairi said worriedly, "you haven't seen her have you?"

"I'm afraid not, I haven't seen her sine Melody…" The King's voice trailed off and the aura of the room grew somber.

Kairi floated next to King Triton, "I'm sorry, I promise we'll find Melody, we just need to find Enya as well."

"Is it possible that she's just still out there, looking for my granddaughter?"

"Well yes," Kairi admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Enya has always been one to try to do everything on her own. I'd say she's determined, but Riku says that she's just hard headed."

Still hiding behind the pillar Enya made a mental note to smack Riku later. At that moment Sebastian and Flounder swam in together.

"Your Majesty!" Sebastian exclaimed, bowing deeply, "Your Majesty, da keyblade bearer is back and he's not alone."

"Does he have Melody?" King Triton said quickly, swimming forward.

"Sora found Enya?" Kairi said at the same time, also swimming forward.

"No…" Flounder said sadly, his fins dipping in despair, "he…well just come and see."

Kairi and King Triton exchanged a look before both swam towards the exit. Enya waited until she could hear nothing but her own breathing. Peeking out from her hiding place, Enya confirmed that the throne room was really empty before swimming over to the triton again. Pushing her guilt aside Enya pulled the triton free and swimming as quickly and quietly as possible to the exit. It was time to save Melody.

A few moments later King Triton and Kairi reentered, Sora swimming alongside them. Tip and Dash followed along behind them, wide-eyed at all of the splendor.

"So you think that these two really saw Enya?" Kairi asked glancing back at Tip and Dash then looking back at Sora.

"They described someone just like her," Sora replied with a shrug, "Either it's Enya, or she has an underwater twin."

"Stranger things have happened," a familiar voice said from behind them. Sora and Kairi turned to see Riku swimming up to them.

"Riku," Sora and Kairi said in unison.

"What are you doing here?" Kairi said swimming over to him, "I thought you were still out looking for Melody and Enya."

"I was, but I wanted to check in and see if anyone had already found them…I'm guessing not." When he saw everyone shake their heads he sighed, "This is insane, they can't have just disappeared."

Sora floated in the water trying to think of something, anything they could do but nothing came to mind. They had no leads, no idea where to start. If he was perfectly honest with himself Sora had to admit that they didn't even know the sea that well. Who knew what dark hiding hole Morgana had Melody in; they needed someone who did know the sea.

"...Where's Ariel…" Sora said turning quickly to the group in general.

"She's on the ship with Eric," Riku said crossing his arms, "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think that we need her to help finding Enya and Melody."

"But Sora," Kairi said slowly, "she's human, how can she help us?"

"She doesn't have to stay human," Sora replied looking at King Triton, "Ariel knows these waters better than anyone else. She would be a better help under the sea than she would be above."

The room fell silent for a long moment, processing what Sora was suggesting. No one could deny what he was saying was true, but they didn't like the idea of putting Ariel in danger. She would be safer on the surfer, and yet…

"Very well," King Triton said with a sigh, "we can go and suggest it to my daughter. Let me just-" The King turned to the throne and saw the stand of the triton completely empty, "What?"

"What's wrong?" Kairi said turning to see what had startled the King and she saw what it was, "The triton's gone!"

"Huh?" Everyone else turned and stared in horror at the empty stand. Sebastian swam over sitting on the stand peeking in as if the triton had somehow disappeared inside. "But...but no one can remove da triton from its stand cept you sire, you or one of your decedents."

Riku suddenly noticed something on the ground; swimming down to examine it Riku recognized it immediately. It was the necklace that he had given Enya all those years ago. Picking it up Riku stared at it for a long moment. "What about someone who isn't from this world?"

"What are you talking about Riku?" Sora asked looking at Riku, whose back was to him.

"We follow different laws right," Riku said turning back to face the others holding up the necklace, "so one of us could remove the triton."

Sora looked at the necklace stunned, "That's Enya's…what is it doing here?"

"Enya took the triton," Riku stated looking down at the necklace, "she must have dropped this to let us know it was her."

"But why would Enya take the triton?" Kairi questioned, "What good would it do her?"

"I don't think she took it for herself," Sora said slowly, "this has Morgana written all over it."

"Morgana!" King Triton exclaimed, "If she gets a hold of my triton…"

"We have to stop Enya before she can get it to her!" Kairi exclaimed, "Who knows what Morgana will do once she gets it!"

King Triton turned to several guards that were standing nearby and roared, "Double the search parties I want my granddaughter and this sister of the keyblade bearer found immediately!"

Sora went to follow one of the search parties when a moving shadow caught his attention. Glancing up Sora saw two stingrays slinking over head swimming out into open water. It didn't take Sora long to recognize them, he tapped Riku and Kairi on the shoulder and pointed at them.

"Hey, aren't those two with Morgana?" Kairi asked in a whisper, "Where are they going?"

"I don't know where exactly, but I'll bet they'll lead us right to Morgana!" Sora declared excitedly, "Let's follow them, if they go to Morgana they'll lead us to Melody too, and who knows we might find Enya along the way!"

Riku nodded in agreement, "Right, let's go."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi started to swim off when Sora noticed that Tip and Dash were following them as well, "You're coming too?"

"Of course!" Dash said with a salute, "we haven't repaid out debt yet and this could be our big chance for an adventure!"

"Yeah…I guess…" Tip added not looking quiet as enthusiastic.

Sora grinned at them, "Thanks you two, we might need your help, since Ariel can't help us we'll need someone to show us around."

"Glad we can help you Sora!" Dash said grinning, "Now let's go!"

Sora nodded and with that he, Riku, Kairi, Tip, and Dash quickly followed after the stingrays.

….

Enya had somehow managed to get out of Atlantica with the triton unseen and was heading back the way she had come. As she swam along she was trying to come up with a plan on how to stop Morgana. Enya had dropped her necklace, in the hopes that the other would realize that she had been there but who knew if they would go back to the throne room and if they did if they would find it. Enya would have to plan this as if she was on her own. The problem with that was that Enya knew she couldn't do much on her own.

Every time she had landed in a horrible situation was because she had been on her own. When Sa'luk had attacked her or Cinderella's Stepmother had turned her into stone, she had been alone.

"I need to learn to handle myself," Enya muttered to herself, "No more being weak and relying on people…the last two years should have taught me that…"

Enya's thoughts were interrupted when she heard boisterous singing coming from behind her.

"_Titanic Tip and Daring Dash adventures slash explorers! Titanic Tip and Daring Dash adventures slash explorers! We're on a quest! To do our best! And smile for all adorers!"_

Enya stopped and turned around to see several figures swimming in her direction. She looked around desperately but the water was completely empty with no place to hide. By this time the figures had drawn close enough for Enya to recognize them, it was Sora, Riku, and Kairi…and apparently a singing penguin and walrus. Enya's joy in seeing her friends disappeared when she remembered Morgana's threat; in her desperation to let her friends know she was alright she'd forgotten.

"_Don't think that you can run off and tell your little friends about this" _Morgana had said, _"because if I discover that you betrayed me… you'll regret it."_

Enya could know hear the others talking as well.

"How long can they keep singing that one verse over and over again?" Riku muttered, obviously annoyed, "I'll never get it out of my head."

"Cheer up Riku, it could be worse!" Kairi said patting his shoulder.

"Yeah!" Sora said grinning, "Besides its kinda catchy!"

With that Sora proceeded to hum along. Riku shook his head hoping to dislodge the song from his head when he saw something up ahead, a flash of gold. As they drew closer he saw that it was the triton and the figure holding it was-

"Enya!" Sora shouted also seeing her, "There you are!"

Instead of swimming towards them as everyone thought she would Enya turned her back on them and darted away.

"Hey come back!" Sora yelled after her before taking off to follow her. Kairi and Riku quickly followed. Enya swam as fast as she could feel the water slowly grow colder and colder again. After a while chunks of ice appeared in the water. Enya used them as a way to duck and weave in the hopes of losing the others. However, no matter how much Enya maneuvered Sora and the others always kept up.

After a while Enya saw several caves deeper in the water. Without thinking Enya dove down into the maze of tunnels below.

"Enya come back!" Sora shouted.

"Hold on Sora," Riku said looking at the caves, "there's another entrance further ahead…you follow her in and make sure she goes that way, I'll cut her off!"

"Right! C'mon guys!" With that Sora, Kairi, Tip, Dash dove after Enya while Riku swam over head towards the other end.

Enya glanced over her shoulder to see the others coming after her. Cursing under her breath Enya sped up ducking and weaving through the tunnel. After a while she glanced back again and no one seemed to be following her.

"I must have lost them…" Enya said letting out a sigh.

"Not exactly."

Enya came to a screeching halt seeing Riku blocking the only way out. Turning around Enya tried to get away but Riku grabbed her arm keeping her in place.

"Riku let go!" Enya said struggling to pull herself free. It was no good though, Riku was too strong.

"Not going to happen," Riku said holding onto her arm tighter, "give me the triton Enya."

"I can't do that Riku!" Enya shouted still trying to pull free, "Now let go of me!"

"Why?" Riku turned her so that Enya was looking at him and his look was stern, "why can't you give me the triton? It's not yours to take and what were you going to do with it?

Enya finally gave up the attempts to break free and slumped slightly, defeated. She kept silent for a long moment before she responded, "Give it to Morgana…I was going to give it to Morgana."

Riku stared at her in shock. The idea that Enya was taking the triton to this newest sea-witch had occurred to them, but it hadn't really been taken seriously. Now, here was Enya, the triton in her hands confessing to just that. Riku let go of her arm but Enya didn't swim away, instead she stared at her fin, disgusted with herself. Riku's next question was the obvious one to ask but also the one that Enya had dreaded answering. "Why?"

Enya tried to think of a good lie, something that would make it so she could get away and save Melody, but nothing occurred to her. After a moment Enya finally settled on telling him the truth. Enya told Riku how she had thought she had seen Merrikh and how she had seen Undertow. How she had followed him and instead of saving Melody she had been captured by Morgana. Enya explained that Morgana had agreed to let Melody go, only if Enya brought her the triton. The cave fell silent for a moment as Riku processed everything Enya had just said.

"Why did you try to do so much on your own Enya?"

Enya finally looked up at him her voice was quiet. "I didn't want anyone involved… I didn't want anyone else taking the risk too. Besides, I can handle myself."

Riku continued to look at Enya for a long time, he knew where Enya was coming from, he'd been in that same position himself. When he had given into his darkness in order to defeat Roxas and restore Sora's memories to him, Riku had kept everyone at a distance as well, not wanting them to see him sumcome to the darkness. Now here was Enya, trying to do everything on her own, not accepting the idea of others helping her because like him she was afraid someone would get hurt because of her actions. Without thinking Riku pulled her into a tight hug. Enya's eyes widened in surprise.

"R-Riku? What are you…"

"You don't have to do everything on your own, you're not alone anymore." Riku said quietly still holding her tight, "It's okay to lean on people and trust them. You've got friends that will help you, so let them."

Enya didn't know what to say, Riku had just said the words that she had needed to hear for a long time. That she wasn't alone anymore. Enya hugged him back her face pressed against his chest.

"Thank you Riku."

Riku pulled out of the hug slightly so that he could look at her and he gave her a soft smile, "Anytime."

Enya stared back at him the same feeling she had had in Agrabah coming back to her. She even felt her cheeks flush. What was wrong with her? It was just Riku and yet… At that moment Riku felt a tiny pressure in his back, he ignored it at first but it continued. Looking over his shoulder, Riku saw the baby penguin punching him in the back.

"Take that! And that!" Tip said punching Riku again (although he barely felt it), "trying to have your way with the damsel in distress and our friends sister! You fiend!"

Enya laughed slightly pulling completely out of the hug, "Friends of yours?"

"Not mine, they came with Sora." Riku replied grabbing the little penguin by the foot and dangling him upside down. Tips whole demeanor changed in a flash.

"O-Oh please have mercy!" Tip begged putting his flippers together, "I beg you! I didn't mean anything I swear! You can have her!"

Enya rolled her eyes, "So this is supposed to be my rescuer?"

"No, that's supposed to be us!" Sora and Kairi came swimming along the cave Sora went straight to her, "Sis!"

Enya swam forward and hugged him tightly. It felt good to have the group together, but something was missing, "Where's Donald and Goofy?"

"They're still with Prince Eric looking for Melody," Sora responded, "What are you doing way out here with the triton?"

Enya looked at Riku who nodded in encouragement. Taking a deep breath Enya repeated her story to the rest of the group. Their reactions were all similar to Riku's.

"That sea-witch has gone too far this time!" Sora said fist clenched. Morgana had tried to use his sister to gain power that was crossing the line.

"What should we do?" Kairi said worriedly, "Enya can't give the triton to Morgana, but if she doesn't who knows what she'll do to Melody!"

Everyone fell silent trying to think of a way to keep the triton away from Morgana and at the same time rescue Melody and keep everyone safe.

"You know…Morgana is expecting me to come alone," Enya said after a moment, "she would never suspect an ambush."

Sora grinned catching on, "No, I bet she wouldn't…"

"If I go in alone with the triton, get a hold of Melody one of you guys swoop in and grab the triton, we'll be in the clear."

"That's pretty risky Enya," Riku said crossing his arms, "you remember how easily Morgana got a hold of you, we're going to need more help."

"I can swim back," Kairi offered, "go and get Donald and Goofy, tell King Triton, Ariel and Eric what's going on. Maybe I can get the guards as well."

"Thank you Kairi that's perfect!" Sora said grinning, "Swim as fast as you can and we'll get ready."

"Alright," Kairi said turning back towards Atlantica but she stopped for a moment and looked at the others over her shoulder, "you guys be careful, alright?"

"Don't worry we will." Enya said smiling. That seemed to be enough to reassure Kairi because she smiled back and took off. Riku smirked at Enya.

"When have you ever been careful?"

"When it makes Kairi feel better and helps us save someone." Enya replied with a shrug, "Besides, I'm careful when I think things through!"

Sora laughed, "You never think things through sis!"

Enya glared at him slightly before sighing, "Let's just go and get Melody."

Sora and Riku nodded and started to swim after Enya when Sora noticed something. Tip and Dash weren't following anymore. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"Are you crazy?" Tip said in a squeaky voice hiding behind one of Dash's massive flippers, "you're going after the Sea-witch! There's no way we're risking our necks!"

Riku also turned to look at them, "What happened to being adventures/explorers huh? You sang about it for nearly an hour."

"W-Well yeah," Dash said his voice shaking a little, "but we didn't think that would mean we'd actually have to risk something!"

Enya sighed somewhat annoyed, they all had bigger things to worry about, "Guys, c'mon let's just go."

"Right." Sora glanced one more time at the two quivering friends before turning away and following Enya towards Morgana's lair, and hopefully, to Melody as well.

….

Enya lead the way towards Morgana's lair, it was a massive cave formed entirely of ice. Not far ahead they saw the two stingrays from before swimming in.

"This is where she told me to meet her," Enya confirmed looking at the cave, "are there any other entries?"

"I can see a hole in the roof of the cave," Riku replied examining the lair, "once you get a hold of Melody one of us could swoop in from above, grab the triton."

"That will be my job," Sora said before anyone could argue, "I'm the fastest swimmer and I've fought in the water before."

"I'll tag along with Sora," Riku inserted gruffly, "that way I can keep an eye on everything from above and come in if things don't look like they're going well."

Enya nodded feeling the tension and anxiety settle in the pit of her stomach. What they were about to attempt was very dangerous; none of them really knew what Morgana was capable of. If they didn't time this just right, Morgana could end up with the triton and Melody as well. Sora glanced at Enya and knew exactly where her mind was.

"We can do this sis," Sora said squeezing her shoulder, "You and me, we can do this, and Riku and the others will help as well as soon as they get here."

Enya looked at him and Riku, then smiled and nodded, "You're right, let's do this."

"Good luck," Riku called after her as Enya swam off towards the cave carrying the triton, "…and stay safe."

As Enya swam into the cave following the tunnel until it opened up into a large chamber. There in the middle was Morgana and floating in some type of magical bubble was baby Melody.

"Aw there you are my little sardine," Morgana cooed scathingly, "and look you brought my triton, clever girl."

"It's not your triton." Enya spat through gritted teeth, she knew she should just keep her mouth shut but this sea-witch seriously got under her skin. Morgana smirked and held a hand out.

"It is now…kgive it to me, now."

Enya kept the triton out of her reach glaring at her, "Not till you hand Melody over to me."

By this point Morgana's act of cool sarcasm had shattered down to dark hostilely. She made a swipe for the triton but Enya dodged backwards.

"Give me Melody or no deal!"

Morgana stared murderously at Enya then nodded and the magical bubble surrounding Melody floated over to her.

"There, you have the brat…now give me the triton or there's going to be trouble."

Enya glanced up slightly; she could see both Riku and Sora looking through the opening above. Both nodded to show Enya that they were ready when she was. Enya held Melody's bubble in one arm and slowly held the triton out in the other. Morgana gave a victorious laugh and went to grab the triton. Sora came hurtling down from his hiding place and snatched the triton before Morgana could get her hands on it.

"What?" Morgana screeched staring at her empty hand, then her murderous gaze turned on Enya and Sora, "You!"

"Sorry Morgana," Sora shouted swimming for the exit Enya right ahead of him carrying Melody, "you lose this round!"

"Not so fast sweethearts!" Morgana called after them, her voice echoing done the tunnel, "Morgana has a few tricks up her sleeve!"

As Sora and Enya made a dash for the caves exit they were suddenly surrounded by large octopus like heartless. As Sora summoned his keyblade one of the heartless used its large tentacles to snatch the triton from Sora's grasp.

"No!" Sora tried to make a grab for the triton again but he had to block another attack instead. Enya was also fighting with only one dagger holding Melody safely in her other arm. The magical bubble around Melody was still holding up but who knew how long that would last. Between the two of them, Sora and Enya were able to clear a path to the exit.

"Go Enya!" Sora shouted hacking at another heartless.

"Not without you!" Enya retorted stabbing one of the heartless clean through.

"We don't have time to argue En," Sora dodged a heartless as its many tentacles reached out for him; "you have to get Melody out of here. Riku and I will handle Morgana and get the triton."

Enya hesitated for a moment knowing that he was right. She glared at him, "You better not die you idiot!"

With that Enya bolted for the cave exit and towards the surface with baby Melody. Sora turned back to the few remaining heartless. In the distance Sora could see one of the heartless carrying the triton back to the main chamber, and to Morgana.

Sora gritted his teeth watching the heartless closely. Every time they reached out for him they left their center venerable, the only issue was timing it just right to hit them without getting hit himself. As one lunged for him, Sora brought his keyblade up slicing it in half. Figuring out the timing Sora took the rest out as well before swimming back to the main chamber.

As soon as Sora reentered the main chamber he could tell things weren't going well. Riku had come down from the hiding spot to fight Morgana but he seemed unable to get close enough to her to do any damage. Every time he tried she would use the magic of the triton. It was indeed powerful it smashed chunks of ice and rock into dust. Sora swam to Riku's aid. "Hey, how you holding up, Riku?"

"Oh you know," Riku grunted jabbing his keyblade at Morgana, "been better."

"You pathetic fools!" Morgana hissed pointing the triton at them, "You think you can defeat me? I control the seas now!"

Sora couldn't help but laugh as he blocked the triton, "Yeah, I've heard that before."

Hefting their keyblades Sora and Riku charged Morgana. The sea-witch smirked, raising the triton high, out of nowhere huge towers of ice shot up towards the surface, blocking Sora and Riku from attacking. The ice pedestal raised Morgana high above the waters. "All of the creatures of the sea! Bow to my power!"

….

Enya was floating on top of the water staring up in horror up at Morgana. Baby Melody, still being help by Enya started to whimper.

"Where's Kairi…" Enya muttered rocking the terrified child.

"Here I am!" Enya turned to see Kairi swimming up behind her, "and I'm not alone!"

Emerging from the water were all of Triton's guards, Goofy in the lead. Not far off in the distance was Eric's ship and Enya could make out Donald in front of the ship.

"We're here!" Goofy said with a salute, "and ready for action!"

"Morgana has the triton," Enya explained quickly, swimming over to Eric's ship, "we have to help Sora and Riku!"

Eric quickly lowered a ladder and climbed down taking Melody from Enya, the bubble around her had vanished when she had reached the surface. Eric climbed back aboard his ship and went over to Ariel.

"Melody!" Ariel shouted running forward to close the distance and took her child into her arms, holding her close, "you're alright, your safe."

Enya took a moment to watch them, seeing a family together like that, it made her wonder if her own family could ever be like that again. Eric broke through her chain of thoughts.

"So, how can we help?"

Enya looked up at him, "Wait here for a while, I'll give you a signal and then you charge the ship forward."

Enya dove back into the water Eric calling after her, "What signal?"

"Trust me; it'll be hard to miss!"

….

Sora and Riku were looking up at Morgana as she waved the triton around. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy had joined them and not long after Enya swam over.

"Grawsh, how are we gonna get way up there?" Goofy asked worriedly.

"We don't have to get up there we need to bring her down here, c'mon!"Sora dove under the water and the others followed, dodging the rain of spells coming from above. "This pedestal is the only thing holding her up I bet if we can get her back down here we might stand a chance."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Enya looked up at the huge tower. "We need to circle the pedestal, try to weaken it enough so that Eric can hit it with his ship and bring her down."

"Right!" Sora shouted, "Let's go!"

As Sora started to swim forward he felt someone tug on his tail. Turning Sora saw Tip and Dash floating behind him. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"We're sorry we ran away…" Dash said looking down at his flipper. "We were just scared."

"Yeah," Tip murmured, "but we wanna help now!"

At that moment Morgana turned her triton onto Undertow and in a flash of light he went from being a tiny little piranha back to being a large, vicious shark. Sora groaned inwardly, just what they needed, another problem. Morgana continued to wave the triton around laughing manically, more ice spikes shooting out of the water, threatening to screw the others.

"Tip and I will take care of the shark!" Dash said raising a flipper.

"Of course we-" Tip froze when he realized what Dash had just said, "are you insane?"

"Maybe but we always wanted an adventure, and this is it!" Before anyone could stop him Dash swam towards Undertow, "Hey you big bully! Why don't you mess with someone your own size!"

Undertow turned and a huge toothy grin spread across his face.

"Oh looky what we have here…dinner," his eyes shifted from Dash to Tip, "and a side-dish."

Tip gulped and looked at Dash. They both nodded in agreement then took off. Undertow chased after them, making an affective distraction for the massive shark. Sora turned back to the icy pedestal that Morgana had created; summoning his keyblade he dove deeper into the water and started to hack at it as best he could. They had all agreed to try to attack the pedestal at different levels and places in the hopes of weakening the base in more than one spot. After that it was up to Eric to see Donald's magic signal and charge the ship into the pedestal.

That plan was suddenly brought to a screeching halt when Morgana pointed the triton at the ship freezing it in place. Donald, who was above the water's surface and had been casting fire at a particularly thick chunk of ice saw the now motionless ship. "Oh no!"

"Donald!" Riku shouted as he emerged from the water keyblade in hand, "can you go try to get the ship free? The rest of us can handle Morgana!"

Donald nodded, "I can do my best!" With that Donald sped off towards the ship as fast as he could.

Even though Riku thought that they could easily handle Morgana he was quickly being proven wrong. Not only were Kairi, Enya, and himself not really use to fighting as merpeople quiet yet but Morgana did indeed have a few tricks up her sleeves. She kept sending enormous spikes of ice after Sora and the others, she even had more of the octopus like heartless attack them, hoping to strangle them.

Sora continued to hack at the base, chunks of ice crumbling away when suddenly several of the heartless grabbed him, dragging him down.

"Sora!" Enya dove after them using her daggers to slash through the heartless' limps.

As soon as Sora was free however a spike of ice hit Enya across the chest throwing her up and out of the water. Hurtling back towards the water Enya stuck her daggers into Morgana's pedestal. Using one dagger to hold herself in place Enya started to hack at the ice hoping to create another weak point.

Kairi and Goofy worked together, taking turns to attack the pedestal and blocking the heartless from attacking. By this point Morgana had figured out their plan and was trying twice as hard to destroy the friends, hurling spell after spell at them.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Kairi shouted, blocking a heartless before punching it away, "Donald please hurry!"

Back at Eric's ship Donald was casting fire over and over again slowly melting the ice away. Several sailors, including Eric had walked out onto the ice, using whatever tools were available to try to break the ice down. Slowly, the ice was loose enough for the ship to break free. Donald raised his staff his and fireworks burst forth, several hitting the pedestal.

"That's a good a signal as any!" Eric shouted turning to his men, "charge!"

Enya noticed the fireworks as well, from her higher position she could see that Riku and Sora had weakened the bottom greatly while Kairi and Goofy had done a good job just below the water's surface. What they needed however was one good hit right where the ship would collide. "Sora! It's time!"

Sora looked up and nodded. Sora and Riku swam as fast as they could towards the surface, Kairi and Goofy following. As they came close to the surface Riku held his keyblade out, Sora used it almost as a springboard to propel himself further out of the water. Kairi took a hold of Goofy's flippers at the exact same moment spinning him around and throwing him out of the water.

Both Sora and Goofy flew through the air, as they felt themselves start to slow Goofy acted like another springboard for Sora allowing him that extra boost he needed. Finally Sora was level with Enya. Enya used her daggers to throw herself towards her younger brother. Grabbing his wrist she threw him towards the pedestal before she went into freefall. Taking his keyblade in both hands Sora flipped himself, before driving his keyblade in, chunks of ice flying everywhere.

Right at that moment, below the surface of the water Tip and Dash, still being chased by Undertow lead him towards the pedestal. Pulling up at the last moment Tip and Dash avoiding crashing into the icy wall, Undertow, was not as fortunate. Morgana felt the entire ice structure shake and she looked down furiously.

"What is this? What-," Morgana didn't have a chance to finish before the ship smash into the structure as well making it crumble from underneath Morgana sending her plunging into the water the triton flying out of her hands. Sora caught it deftly before diving under the water to finish Morgana, once and for all.

Morgana floated dazed in the water as: Sora, Riku, Enya, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and even Tip and Dash circled her. Everyone who carried a weapon had theirs pointed at the sea-witch. Undertow tried to swim to his mistress' defense only to have Sora point the triton at him and turn him back into a little piranha. Morgana hissed and pointed a finger at Sora.

"This isn't over by a long shot brat," Morgana cackled as she saw King Triton swimming towards them as well, "I'll get the triton again, just you wait! I'll have my revenge on all of you and your precious granddaughter, Triton!"

Letting out one more maniacal burst of laughter Morgana was surrounded by a dark cloud of ink. Everyone charged forward to grab her only to discover she had already vanished.

….

Everyone had spent hours looking for Morgana but it seemed that once again she vanished without a trace. The important thing was however that Melody was safe and the triton had been returned to the King. Tip and Dash had stayed in the arctic departing from the others as friends, ready to keep searching for more adventures.

The sun was setting and Ariel and Eric were standing on the beach, Melody cradled securely in Ariel's arms. Triton, Sora and the others were floating in the water as Triton explained the results of the search.

"I'm sorry my dear, but we've searched everywhere, she's vanished! We'll keep trying…"

Ariel shook her head, "No, no that's not enough. I can't risk that sea-witch taking Melody away again. Until Morgana is found Melody can't go in the sea…and neither will I."

Everyone stared at her stunned.

"B-But Ariel!" Flounder said, but Ariel cut him off.

"I'm sorry Flounder, but we know that Morgana is just like Ursula, she'll never stop. This is the only way," Ariel said quietly taking the locket Triton had given Melody off of her and handing it back to him, "Melody can't know about the merpeople or Atlantica…or even you Daddy."

King Triton held onto the locket tightly composing himself before he let out a sigh, "Very well Ariel, you're right."

Ariel turned away pressing her face into Eric's shoulder clearly upset. Eric put an arm around her soothingly leading her back towards his castle.

"This isn't right…" Sora said frustrated, "I wish we could do something more."

"What else can we do?" Riku replied with a shrug, "We can always come back and look for Morgana when things have cooled down, but I have a feeling we've done all we can for now."

"I guess you're right." Sora said with a sigh.

Enya smiled and squeezed his shoulder, "C'mon, let's get to the gummy ship."

Before anyone could do anything there was a puff of smoke and everyone was back in their original forms standing in the middle of the 'Radiant Garden's Restoration Committee' building. Cid was typing away at his computer as always while Aerith, Yuffie, and Cloud stood around.

"Huh?" Sora said bemused, "How did we get back here?"

"That would be my doing!" A voice said right behind him.

Turning with a start Sora saw the pointy-hatted wizard Merlin standing there. "Merlin! Why did you bring us back to Radiant Gardens?"

"That would be because of me, Sora!" Cid shouted from the computers, "I've been getting a distress signal from a new world."

"Gwarsh," Goofy said walking over to look at the screen, "it's been a while since we've been to a new world!"

"Yeah!" Donald said, nodding in agreement.

"What's this new world called?" Enya asked leaning against a wall.

"Well the signal has been pretty darn weak," Cid said frustrated, "but I keep getting the word Montresser."

"Sounds like fun!" Kairi said clapping her hands together in delight, "when can we leave?"

"As soon as you like," Merlin said beaming, "but don't forget…as keyblade barers it is your duty to protect the worlds, but also to keep the other worlds a secret from each other."

"Got it Merlin!" Sora said giving him the thumbs up.

"Good luck." Aerith said with a smile, waving as Sora took his position to beam everyone back up to the gummi ship.

"See ya soon!" Yuffie called with a wave. Cloud only nodded as in a flash of light Sora and his friends were off on another adventure.


	10. Planet Montressor The Benbow Inn

CHAPTER 7: Planet Montressor

The small group of friends stood on a hill trying to take in their surroundings. There was a light drizzle of rain falling as they looked around. There wasn't much to see through the pouring rain, just a winding road and a few glittering lights in the distance.

"We better find a place to dry off," Sora said when he saw Kairi shiver, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. "Come on."

The six friends sloshed through the mud down the road till they saw a wooden sign swinging in the breeze, "**The Benbow Inn**."

"That's the place for us." Riku said pointing at the sign. They quickly continued down the road till they saw a large looking cottage near the edge of a cliff. As everyone drew closer Enya hesitated outside before opening the door.

"Is this a good idea? I mean walking into the inn of an unknown world with a talking duck and a…," Enya looked at Goofy, still not sure what to call him, "a…Goofy. What if the people of this world aren't as excepting of something like that?"

"Only one way to find out!"Sora said as he opened the door and herding everyone in. As soon as they walked inside they realized that, if anything, Donald and Goofy would blend in better than Sora and the others. The inn was filled with strange looking creatures, a giant looking slug was standing in the corner, and at a table was a Cyclops looking octopus. The whole inn was full of strange creatures, all chatting and laughing while they ate.

"Oh yeah," Riku said smirking at Enya, "Donald and Goofy are really going to stand out here."

Enya elbowed Riku hard in the gut as Sora glanced around the busy inn trying to find the owner. He finally spotted a women rushing from table to table. She looked exhausted, dark circles were under her eyes and her thin brown hair was carelessly pulled back in a messy ponytail. Sora walked up to her clearing his throat, "Umm excuse me."

The woman turned and looked at Sora, Kairi, Riku and the others in surprise. "Oh hello, can I help you with something?"

"Yes actually," Kairi said stepping forward and smiling warmly. "We would like a couple of rooms for the night."

"Alright then, we have two rooms open and would you like a table and something to eat?"

"Yes please." Everyone choired, all their stomachs growling loudly, it suddenly occurred to them that none of them had eaten since they had been at King Mickey's castle. It seemed to be a lifetime ago. The innkeeper smiled and led them to one of the few remaining empty tables. After a moment of looking at the menus everyone glanced up at each other.

"Um, what is Pussgull steak?" Enya asked looking up worriedly.

"I don't know," Riku said putting the menu down sounding a little disgusted, "but it sounds about as good as Jellian Maggots."

In the end the Innkeeper, Mrs. Sarah Hawkins, brought some soup, normal enough, despite its bright purple color. Riku and Sora started talking about what to do next, trying to understand why this world would have sent out a distress signal for them. Of what they could see everything seemed normal, or as normal as it could be with the creatures around them.

Enya leaned her head on her hand observing the customers and the hussle and bussle of the busy inn. Mrs. Hawkins handed several trays of food to a dog like looking man who sat at the table closest to the window. They were obviously old friends; one could tell by the way they acted around each other. Enya caught the end of their conversation.

The dog man named chuckled good-naturedly "…I've been meaning to ask, how's Jim doing?"

"Much better," Sarah said putting some dirty dishes on an empty table, "I know he was a little – off but he's been doing better."

At that moment the door burst open and a teenage boy was led in by two robots in police uniform.

"Jim!" Sarah Hawkins exclaimed looking shocked.

"_Wow"_ Enya thought looking at the boys as the robotic officers lead him in. "_That's doing better?"_

"Let go will ya." Jim said shrugging one of the cop's hands off his shoulder.

"Not's so fast boy." The other officer grabbed Jim's arm holding him back. "We apprehended your son operating a solar vehicle in a restricted area. That's the third time in a month, if he keeps this up it's going to be a one way ticket to juvenile hall."

"Thank you officers," Mrs. Hawkins pulled Jim away from the robots. "It won't happen again." She said sternly.

Jim glared over his shoulder as the two cops turned around and rolled away on the tires that were their feet. Enya looked around when she realized she hadn't been the only one watching, the entire room had been silent during the exchange. Seeing that Mrs. Hawkins had noticed their stares, conversation quickly rose up again.

The boy, Jim, buried his hands deep in his pockets. Enya couldn't hear the two of them talking over the rest of the chatter. She examined the boy though. He was average height, taller than Sora maybe and had a thin build. A thick brow gave him a rather moody look and his pale gray-blue eyes were large. He ran a hand through his brown hair which was long on top while the bottom was shaved away except for a small ponytail. She saw him turn his back on his mother and walked back out the door. It slammed behind him as he went.

Enya looked over at Sora who also seemed to be watching and they exchanged a silent look. Enya suddenly noticed that someone other than her and Sora hadn't looked away either. Across the room a well-built girl was looking after Jim, she bit her lower lip and let out a sigh before looking down at her food again, poking at it dejectedly. Feeling suddenly inspired Enya stood.

"Where are you going?" Riku asked looking up from his purple soup.

"Not far…" Enya said vaguely as she walked over to the girls table, Sora also stood and followed his older sister. Noticing that the two siblings were heading her way the girl raised an eyebrow, dark, olive green eyes looking bemused as Enya smiled at her.

"Hey," Enya said giving a quick waved. "Mind if we join you?"

The girl's blinked in surprise, then nodded, pushing a strand of light brown hair behind an ear.

"Sure, suit yourself." The girl said, looking at the door again. As Enya sat down in an empty chair and Sora stood alongside her, the girl looked at them again out of the corner of her eye. "I'm Dolphinia, but everyone just calls me Dolphy."

Enya gave a nod of acknowledgment, before she extended a hand to shake Dolphy's.

"I'm Enya, En for short, but no one really calls me that but my little brother." Enya said nodding towards Sora. Sora grinned at Dolphy and thumped his fist against his chest.

"I'm Sora!"

….

Later that night Kairi and Enya shared a room looking out over the cliff side while Riku, Sora, Donald and Goofy shared the room across the hall. Sora, Riku and Donald were still in the dining room sitting at a table trying to figure out why this world had called for the Keyblade master. They had spent the rest of the afternoon searching for a single Heartless but had found nothing. If there weren't any heartless or nobodies, why would they have been called?

Kairi, Enya, and Goofy had decided to go to bed, Kairi was already asleep but it seemed to evade Enya. Her and Sora's conversation with Dolphy was still running through her head.

"_So," Enya said leaning back in her chair. "Who was that boy, the one who just left?" _

_Dolphy looked down at her food for a long time before she looked up again. Both Sora and Enya noticed that her cheeks had turned slightly pink. _

"_His names Jim, Jim Hawkins he's…" Dolphy's voice trailed off and she ran her hands through her hair again. _

"_He's what?" Sora prompted._

"_He's kinda a troublemaker. I've known him all my life, he wasn't always this way. When he was younger he was a sweet kid, but when he was, about nine I guess, his father ran out on them, Jim and Mrs. Hawkins I mean. Ever since then he's been, rebellious to say the least."_

Enya sighed looking up at the ceiling laying sprawled out on the bed still thinking, the sound of Kairi's quiet breathing from the other bed the only sound. Enya knew all about being the rebellious teenager. For the first few months when Sora and the others had vanished Enya had tried anything she could think of to try to bring them back, and a lot of her attempts had been incredibly stupid. Yes, she knew all about the rebellious stage.

Enya's mind continued to wander, making it impossible for her to sleep; finally she gave up and walked out the door.

….

Jim was sprawled underneath his solar surfer muttering to himself. "Throw away my entire future," he grunted as he tightened several bolts, "yeah what future."

"Hey." A voice called making Jim jumped in surprise smacking his head on the board.

"Sorry." Enya bent down so she could see underneath to where Jim was laying her sapphire blue eyes wide with concern. Jim rubbed his head and glowered at her.

"What do you want?" He said crawling out from underneath his surfer.

Enya merely shrugged, "Nothing, I just saw what happened at the Inn. I guess I wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm Enya by the way."

"Jim, and I'm fine."

Jim sat up and pressed a button on the metal plank, nothing happened, he hit it again still nothing. He slammed his entire fist on top of the glowing button and a pole snapped up and a shining sheet bloomed out.

"Whoa," Enya's eyes widened again and she jumped back a little, "what is this thing?"

Jim stood dusting himself off, "It's a solar surfer. What, you've never seen a solar suffer?"

Enya shook her head again. She circled the whirring machine. It looked like a metal surfboard with a large engine on one end. The pole was tall and thin and a patch-work of material made up the sail. Extending from the pole was a thin, curved rail. It was rather crudely made, as if it's various bits and pieces had been collected from junk piles. Still, the creation was very impressive.

"I've never seen anything like this back home." Enya said, she glanced over her shoulder at him, a small smirk on her face. "Let me guess, this is what got you in trouble right?"

Jim shuffled his feet; that was answer enough. He quickly changed the subject. "So where do you live where they don't have solar surfers, a hole?"

Enya laughed and stepped closer to get a better look at the solar surfer. "No, Destiny Island."

There was a pause and Enya looked back at Jim. "I've never heard of Destiny Island, where is it?"

Enya answered vaguely. "Oh, um, it's pretty far away."

"Oh yeah, how far away exactly?" He seemed a lot less moody then before, but that didn't help Enya at the moment. By the way Sora and the others acted like very few people knew about the other world, she didn't know if she should tell this boy.

Enya opened her mouth to come up with an excuse but there was a loud explosion right over their heads. Looking up both Jim and Enya saw a huge ship smoking over head plummet towards the ground. It let off a plume of fire and came to a shrieking halt at the end of the dock in front of the Benbow inn across the ravine.

Jim quickly leapt onto his solar surfer, powering it up, he glanced down at Enya. "Get on will ya."

"You're kidding right?"

"Just get on!" Jim held out a hand and Enya hesitantly took it. He quickly pulled her up. "You better hold on."

She barely had time to wrap her arms around his chest before he kicked the starter and they sped across the ravine. Enya clung on for dear life. When they landed both jumped off and ran to the crash site.

"Hey!" Jim shouted as he reached the ship, Enya right on his heels, "Hey, anyone in there?"

The window hissed open and billows of black smoke came whirling out making Jim and Enya stumble back coughing and gagging. As the smoke began to dissipate a giant lizard creature stumbled out coughing and wheezing. He shoved Enya out of the way, hard enough that she fell backwards. The lizard then grabbed the front of Jim's shirt making him stumble forward slightly.

"He's a comin'," The lizard said in a scratchy voice. "Can you hear 'im? Those gears and gizmos whirring like thee devil 'imself!"

He let go of Jim, whirling around to grab a wooden chest that had fallen out beside him. Enya stood dust the front of her black pants. Looking over at Jim she circled a finger near her head, the universal sign for _"He's a complete nutcase."_ Jim nodded in agreement, both on the defense now, incase this giant salamander decided to go completely insane and attack them.

"He's after me chest, that fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats!" The lizard man continued ranting.

"Riiight." Jim said straightening his black overcoat. The lizard didn't seem to be listening.

"They'll have to pry it out of old Billy Bones cold dead han-nds-" Billy stumbled forward crumpling to the ground coughing and spluttering.

Enya ran forward leaning over Billy as he began to shake, "Come on give me your hand." She wrapped one of Billy's scaly arms over her shoulder. "Help me would ya?" Enya grunted under Billy Bone's weight.

"I don't think there's that much we can do." Jim said taking a step back. He seemed unnerved, he'd never been this close to someone dying, and it obviously scared him. "Why don't we leave him here and get Doctor Delbert and get him to help?"

"We can't just leave him here." Enya said straining under Billy's weight. "Grab his other arm and we'll get him up to the inn." Jim hesitated for a moment before he wrapped Billy's other arm around his own shoulder, Billy's hand still clutching the strange chest. As they made their way up the road the light drizzle of earlier that day started to become a downpour.

"Man," Jim grumbled as the three of them continued up the path, "Mom's gonna love this..."

….

"I still don't get it." Riku said leaning his chair back on the back two legs, aqua eyes staring up at the ceiling. "What was the point of coming here?"

"There's got to be a reason this world called out to Cid and the others." Donald said for what must have been the thousandth time. He began to drum his feathered fingers on the table; any answers seemed to be eluding him as much as they were Sora and Riku.

"Well then why aren't there any Heartless?" Sora asked resting his head on the table, tugging at a spike of sandy-brown hair. "Maybe Merlin made a mistake or –"

The door opened with a crash and Enya and Jim struggled under the weight of Billy Bones as they stumbled into the almost completely empty inn, completely soaked from the rain. Mrs. Hawkins came running from the kitchen and Delbert dropped his book running forward.

"James Pleiades Hawkins!" Sarah gasped running to her son.

"Enya!" Sora shouted pushing away quickly from the table. Riku and Donald followed.

"Mom, he's hurt – bad." Jim said as he and Enya quickly lowered Billy to the floor. They heard footsteps from above and Kairi and Goofy appeared on the staircase.

"What's going on?" Kairi said running down the stairs to stand next to Sora, red hair tousled from sleep.

Billy Bones gasped weakly on the floor as Jim kneeled next to him. "Me chest," He panted reaching out a shaking hand. Jim pushed the chest within the lizards grasp. He typed in a password and the lid popped open with a soft hiss.

"I can't let 'im get a hold this." He pulled out a small wrapped sphere; he clutched it to his chest as if his life depended on it.

"Who?" Jim asked as he began to stand. Billy grabbed Jim by the scruff of the shirt yanking him down till his ear was level with Billy's wheezing mouth.

"The Cyborg," He croaked out, "Beware the Cyborg." Then his grasp weakened, and Billy Bones slipped to the floor and let out a final gasp, and was still.

"Oh no." Sarah said putting a hand to her mouth. There was flashing lights and a heavy growling sound overhead, loud enough it could even be heard over the storm. Jim slid over to a window opening the curtain slightly so that everyone could just see outside.

"Well," Riku said, strangely calm. "That explains where the Heartless are."

A huge flying ship had landed outside the inn. Down the side slithered a good hundred Heartless and jumping over the rail men wielding swords made their way towards the inn.

"We gotta go!" Jim said pulling his mother up the stairs past Goofy who hadn't come completely downstairs yet. Jim turned and looked down at Sora, Riku, Kairi and Enya who hadn't moved.

"Come on will ya!" Jim shouted down at them as his mother and Delbert continued up the stairs.

"We'll hold them off." Sora said summoning the keyblade, blue eyes flashing. The others quickly summoned their own weapons and took their stances

"You're crazy!" Jim said staring at the teenagers as Donald and Goofy stood on either side of Sora. Enya looked up at Jim and grinned.

"Yeah, you're not the first to tell us that."

There was a burst of white light and it smashed through the door. The Heartless crawled through the giant singed hole in the door like rats. Sora ran forward slashing through the first few Heartless quickly. One made it passed Sora and headed straight for Riku. Smiling slightly he jumped back, the Heartless reached out long fingers and Riku rolled to the side whipping the Way to Dawn keyblade around and in one effortless motion sliced through the Heartless. Donald started casting fire as the heartless crawled through the hole, obliterating them in groups.

Enya and Kairi were having a harder time. Heartless had smashed through the windows and thirty of them had formed a tight ring around them, every time Kairi or Enya made a move to attack, the Heartless would dart out of the way only to be replaced by another.

"Give me a leg up." Kairi shouted as she blocked a Heartless with her keyblade.

Enya nodded; throwing her daggers into an attacking Heartless, she quickly cupped her hands together. With a running jump Kairi's foot landed into Enya's hand. Twisting into the air she called upon the magic the three fairy's had given her, just like Sora had in Wonderland and Riku in Agrabah. In a flash of light her cloths turned red and a second keyblade appeared in her empty hand. Still twisting through the air Kairi boomerang her new keyblade around the circle of Heartless slicing through half of them. With the other she landed and cut through several more. With most of the Heartless in the circle gone Kairi ran to Sora to help him with the attack at the door. Riku ran to Enya to finish off the rest of the Heartless inside.

"I can handle this," Enya shouted cart wheeling out of the way of one Heartless while using both daggers to propel two more of the Heartless into a wall. "Go help Sora!"

In that instant another white burst of energy crashed through the door, apparently the ship outside has opened fire. It then smashed into the candle chandelier overhead. As it began to fall, Enya yanked Riku out of the way as it crashed onto the remaining Heartless crushing them.

"That works too." Enya said as the Heartless bodies disappeared.

"Sora we got to go!" Goofy said seeing the men coming closer to the inn. The six of them quickly climbed the stairs after Jim and the others. They were standing in the far room looking around in desperation.

"I thought we told you guys to leave?" Sora shouted as he and Riku began to barricade the door.

"We couldn't leave you children behind!" Mrs. Hawkins said shoving a set of dressers in front of the door as well.

"That won't hold them for long." Riku said as they piled the last of the furniture in front of the door.

"Wait my cart, its right outside, it can be our escape!" Delbert exclaimed opening the window. He scrambled onto the ledge.

"Don't worry," Delbert called over the rain as they all tried to line themselves up with the large carriage below. "I'm an expert in the laws of physical science, on the count of three."

The door began to shake as several bodies on the other side crashed into it. After a few more shoves the furniture in front of the door started to move.

"One…" Delbert said slowly, as the door shook even harder. Jim lost patience.

"Three!" He shouted and shoved everyone through the window. Screaming as they fell, everyone landed in a heap in the carriage startling the horse that pulled the cart into a frightened gallop. Everyone glanced back to see the inn starting to burn, flames leaping from the widows. Sarah Hawkins stared in horror as her livelihood went up in smoke. As she buried her face in her hands Jim slouched low in the seat looking miserable, he quickly pulled the package out of his pocket and began to unwrap it. Out fell a golden sphere.

….

Everyone sat around a warm fire at Delbert's house. Sarah sat in a chair as the good doctor gave her a cup of tea. Delbert knelt next to Mrs. Hawkins patting her hand slowly. "I'm sorry Sarah, I'm afraid that the old Benbow Inn has been burnt to the ground."

Jim wrapped a blanket around his mother, he looked like he was about to say something but he closed his mouth and walked away.

"I don't get it," Kairi said looking up and staring out the window. "Why would those pirates go to such trouble over a ball?"

Jim picked the sphere up from the table and began to toy with it absently, randomly pushing buttons and twirling it between his fingers.

"Hey," Donald reprimanded Jim, hopping up and snatching the sphere out of the boy's hands, "This isn't a toy!" Donald looked at the sphere; its gold shell gleamed in the dim light reflecting in Donald's eyes. He clutched the ball greedily; he held it so tightly that he accidently pressed in several of the buttons. A loud whirling noise started.

"Donald!" Sora, Riku Kairi and Enya shout together, all standing.

"I didn't do it!" Donald said dropping the ball, it rolled across the floor till it hit Sora's shoe, pressing in the finally button. There was a tiny click, and the sphere let out a burst of greenish light.

Delbert gasped as the sphere's greenish glow expanded to engulf the entire room, "What the –"

Thousands of tiny planets had appeared floating around in the glow. Delbert walked around in awe. Jim walked over and picked up the golden ball while Sora and the others stood perfectly still, not wanting to disturb anything.

"Wait," Delbert said excitedly, "This is us, it's Montressor." His finger tapped the orb that was a representation of their planet and the whole map began to move. A golden line starting at Montressor was suddenly connected to random planets. More and more planets flew by till the map finally stood still, one planet in the center. It looked exactly like the sphere clutched in Jim's hand with two swirling rings around it.

"That can't be…" Delbert gasped.

"It is." Jim said grinning, he began to laugh. "That's treasure planet."

"Would someone please tell us what the heck is going on here." Enya said annoyed, hands on hips.

"That's treasure planet. Enya that's treas –" He stopped when he saw her confused face, he looked around to see that Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy all had similar expressions. "You don't know about treasure planet?" Jim asked appalled, "How don't you know about treasure planet?"

"Well then tell us what it is." Riku said leaning against a far wall, long silver hair hanging around his face.

"Captain Nathaniel Flint was the terror of the seas." Jim explained excitedly, "He would attack merchant star ships and gather the loot, and then vanished without a trace."

"Sounds like a nice guy." Riku said sarcastically.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Enya persisted still not understanding. Jim grabbed her hand pulling her closer to the planet in the middle of the map.

"That's Flint's trove, the loot of a thousand worlds." He pointed a devilish grin still plastered across his face. "All that treasure is just a boat ride away."

He stared and the planet suspended in mid air. Suddenly, Jim glanced down at his and Enya's intertwined fingers and quickly let go, rubbing his neck slightly embarrassed. Enya was too busy staring up at the planet to really notice. Riku however, had noticed the exchange, a felt a spike of fury course through his body. He shook his head surprised by his own reaction. He was just being protective, he assured himself, like any friend would.

"This is it," Jim said quickly, pocketing the little ball and the map disappeared, "the answer to all our problems."

"Just wait one second James Hawkins," Sarah said grabbing her son's shoulder, "There is no way on Montressor that I'm going to let you go wonder the galaxy alone."

"Your mom's right Jim." Sora said his head leaning back in his hands. Enya was surprised, since when did Sora care about rules, let alone follow them.

"Yep," Sora said blue eyes flashing mischievously. "You can't go on your own, and that's why we're going with you."

"We are?" Kairi, Donald and Goofy said surprised.

"We are." Enya confirmed grinning back at her brother, Sora grinned right back.

"Hey wait a sec." Riku said walking over to stand next to Goofy. "This has nothing to do with us. I say we just go back and –"

"And what, exactly," Enya said looking at him, "What good does going back do us? Merlin sent us here we don't have the gummi ship, do you even know how to get us back Riku?"

"I'll think of something." Riku grumbled folding his arms glowering at the floor.

"Aw c'mon Riku," Sora said punching Riku's arm lightly, "don't you think it's a pretty big coincidence that we just happen to be at the inn right before it was attack by pirates? This has got to be why Merlin sent us here!"

"And all those Heartless were with the pirates on their ship." Kairi pointed out, "It's our job as keyblade barer's to fight heartless and to protect people." Riku had no argument for that.

"Well that doesn't change a thing." Sarah interjected stepping towards the group of friends. "Whether you six go with him I'm not letting you all wonder the galaxy without supervision."

"Sarah I'll go with them." Delbert said. Everyone turned to see that he was already packing bags.

"What?" Mrs. Hawkins shouted.

"If I go with them they'll be perfectly safe." Delbert said confidently, right before he suddenly tripped on a pile of books and tumbled to the floor. Sarah gave him a look and Delbert quickly stood.

"Don't worry Mrs. Hawkins." Donald reassured her, pulling on her skirt to get her attention. "We'll keep an eye on Jim for you."

"Yeah," Goofy said chuckling as the Doctor continued to run around packing, once in a while tripping on random junk, "Two of them."

"We'll keep them on the Doc too." Sora muttered walking towards the door.

….

The eight companions quickly shuffled onto the dock when they landed at the space port. In a matter of hours Doctor Delbert had been able to find a ship, a captain, and a crew. Sora, lead the way out followed by Jim, and Riku. Kairi and Enya stood side by side watching at the flying boats and the strange people and creatures that past them by. Jim noticed their stares and smiled.

"What, you've never been to the space port?" He chuckled. When Enya and Kairi nodded Jim stared at them confused.

"So how'd you get here then?" He asked looking at Sora and Riku.

"It's – a long story." Enya said sheepishly. Jim looked back at her, she shrugged her shoulders innocently. He continued to look at her and she turned a tiny shade of red under his gaze. Riku ground their teeth audibly.

Goofy and Donald finally emerged from the ship, Donald looking slightly green under his feathers and Goofy trying to help the Doctor through the door. The doctor was having difficulty due to the fact that he was dressed head to toe in what appeared to be an oversized old-fashioned scuba suit.

"What's wrong Donald?" Kairi asked concerned as the duck teetered precariously close to the edge of the dock looking the same shade of puce green. She grabbed his arm pulling him back.

"Oh," Goofy said as he attempted to yank Delbert through the door, his suit was too big, "Donald doesn't like heights."

Jim went to go and help Goofy, "The bird doesn't like heights. There's some irony." Between the two of them they were able to get Delbert off the ship and down the docks.

"Then how can you handle the gummi ship Donald?" Enya asked confused.

"When we're in the gummi ship you can't really tell how high you are, it's a portal…flying like this, I can tell." Just at the thought Donald turned a darker shade of green. Kairi patted his shoulder sympathetically before following Doctor Delbert. He led the way through the sea of people and creatures till finally he came to a stop in front of a huge ship.

"This is us," He said proudly showing them the floating ship with a sweep of his arm, "The R.L.S Legacy."

"Wow!" Everyone said simultaneously. They all quickly scurried up the gangplank.

The ship was very impressive; the wood was painted white to match the sails that reached so high up that everyone had to crane their neck till it hurt to see the top. Creatures of every shape and size jogged back and forth doing different jobs. A man who appeared to be made completely from stone scrutinized their work.

"Ahoy captain everything shipshape." Delbert said looking proud that he knew this much sailor talk.

The rock man turned around. "Shipshape it is, but I'm not the captain, she's the captain."

Everyone looked around to see who the man was referring to and saw no one. Finally, the rock-man pointed a finger up. A tall lanky woman was standing in the crow's-nest. Grabbing a rope she slid down before lightly landing on her feet like a cat. Which apparently was what she was, her features were cat-like with an elongated face and large yellow eyes.

She waltzed over to them. "Mr. Arrow I'm must say I'm impressed, once again you've turned this miserable wreck into something worth my time. Congratulations."

He chuckled, taking off his hat and bowing slightly, "You flatter me Captain." She finally noticed the group of people standing behind Mr. Arrow.

"You must be Doctor Delbert Doppler and which one of you is Jim Hawkins?" She asked looking at the group of teenagers. Jim stepped forward she looked him over then shook his hand quickly.

"I'm Captain Amelia." She looked at the rest of the teenagers standing in a group, "And you can all leave."

"What!" Enya said stepping forward.

"Wait a sec." Kairi said close on Enya's heels, "We're supposed to come too."

Captain Amelia glowered at them shepherding Jim and Delbert towards her stateroom Mr. Arrow at her side. "I don't need dead weight on my ship."

"Hey hold on." Sora stepped in front of the feline trying to reason with her. "We were there when Jim found the treasure ma –" Amelia clapped a hand over Sora's mouth. She glanced over her shoulder to see that several of the crew had stopped to listen. She opened her door and pointed everyone inside.

"Alright get in, and zip your hollowing screamer."

When they were all inside the Captain turned and looked at the group huddled on the other side of her desk. She turned her attention to Delbert, singling him out as the one in charge, since he was the only adult.

"I'll put this as monosyllabically as possible Doctor. I don't much care for the crew **you** hired or bringing along," She looked at Sora, Kairi, Riku, Enya, Donald and Goofy warily, "…extras."

"Captain, I assure you they will be very useful, I'm sure of it. Why, they fought those creatures that were with the pirate's quite well." Delbert said, quickly seeing that Sora, Riku, and Enya especially looked like they would like nothing better than to string the Captain up by her oversize bootlaces.

"Well they better." Captain Amelia said coolly. Everyone was still glowering at this feline. She gave them all a grim smile. "Well then, Mr. Arrow, where can we use these – children?"

Mr. Arrow examined each of the teenagers in turn. "Those two," He pointed to Sora and Riku, "can be used in the cargo area, keeping it in order."

"The bird," he then pointed to Donald, "Well we could always use one more in the crow's-nest."

"Um, Donald's afraid of heights sir." Goofy interjected. Arrow looked between the friends.

"A bird that's afraid of heights? There's some irony." Mr. Arrow said. "Fine then the Dog-man will be up in the crow's-nest and the bird will help the boys."

He finally turned to Kairi, Jim and Enya. "You three will help the cook, Mr. Silver."

"What!" Jim said finally paying attention. "I'm not going to –" Enya elbowed him hard in the side to get him to shut up, not wanting to risk getting thrown off the ship. "Ow!"

Captain Amelia smirked widened a bit before she turned her back on them, obviously she wanted them out. Sighing everyone exited the stateroom back out onto the deck.

"You three," Mr. Arrow said to Riku, Donald and Sora, "Over there." He pointed them towards a heavy looking door on the other side of the ship.

"Dog-man." Arrow said looking at Goofy.

"It's Goofy sir."

"Very well, Mr. Goofy I recommend you start to climb." Mr. Arrow pointed to the rope ladder leading to the crow's nest. "You other three shall head down to the kitchens with me, I shall show you the way. Doctor…follow me as well if you please"

With that Mr. Arrow started down the deck to a small flight of stairs and to a small wooden door. Enya went to follow Jim and Kairi down the stairs but Riku tapped her arm and she turned.

"I don't like this Enya." Riku said quietly looking her straight in the eyes. She looked right back confusion on her pretty features.

"What don't you like? As long as I can remember you and Sora have always wanted to be explorers. So what's the problem?"

"It's just… I don't know if I feel comfortable with you and Kairi alone with that boy." Riku muttered his gaze dropping. Enya looked at Kairi and Jim. Jim was waiting for Enya holding the door, Enya then back to Riku; she gave him a smirking grin.

"Don't worry Riku; I'll keep an eye on Kairi for you." She playfully punched him on the shoulder then ran to the steps to go down to the kitchen.

Riku rubbed his arm where Enya had hit him; he turned to follow Sora muttering, "It's not Kairi I'm worried about."

….

As Enya climbed down the stairs she saw Jim and Delbert talking, most likely complaining about the rude captain by the sound of their voices. She could see Mr. Arrow standing not far from them glowering, obviously not pleased with their conversation. Kairi had gone ahead and was looking at everything from the tables, to the cooking implements, even the strangely shaped fruits in large wooden barrels. In her curiosity had bumped into a large man, his features hidden by the steam of the cooking food. She stumbled back, surprised.

"Oh, sorry sir." Kairi said as she regained her balance.

The man in the steam chuckled wiping his hands with the apron around his waist; he was turned so you couldn't really see his right side.

"It's alright little lady, I should be honored that Mr. Arrow would bring such fine people down here to grace my galley."

He turned and bowed to them. They all gasped. Most of his right side was made up of machinery, his leg was a robotic peg-leg and his arm looked like an overdone Swiss army knife. Even his right eye had been replaced by a small machine it twisted and turned in its socket.

"A Cyborg." Jim let the word out in a breath. Enya and Kairi stared at Jim then at the man before them. They had both heard what Billy Bones had said with his last breath. _"Beware the Cyborg…"_

Delbert stepped forward; he hadn't heard Bone's warning and introduced everyone, pointing to each person in turn. "I'm Doctor Doppler and these young ladies are Kairi and Enya, and this lad is Jim Hawkins."

"A pleasure to meet you, my name is Silver." With that the Cyborg stepped forward and offered his hand to Jim who was standing slightly ahead of the group, "Jimbo!"

Silver thrust his robotic hand forward, it was covered in knifes, screws and other sharp objects. Realizing his mistake Silver grinned and the hand rotated back to be replaced with one consisting of metal fingers. Jim stared at it then glared at Silver; his gray-blue eyes flashing in the dim light, Silver looked at Jim for a long moment, in the end he only shrugged.

"Ah now don't worry you'll get use to the hunk of hardware soon enough."

There was a whistle from above and Mr. Arrow and Dr. Doppler heading back towards the stairs. Silver began to mix random objects into a pot with an ease that was almost funny to watch. As he went to take a small sip of the stew Mr. Arrow turned back to look at the small group.

"By the way Mr. Silver, these three children are to stay here, in your charge." Silver gagged and coughed on the stew. However, before he could argue Mr. Arrow said the one thing that would silence any man on the R.L.S Legacy, "Captain's orders!"

With that Mr. Arrow followed the Doctor back onto the deck leaving four silent figures behind him. After a moment Silver sighed and returned to his cooking, he quickly spooned out three bowls.

"Well if you three are stayin' here yer might as well be comfortable. Why don't ya three each try my famous bonzabeast stew?"

Jim, Kairi, and Enya looked down at the contents of their bowls. It looked less like stew and more like a chunky paste. It was a sickly yellow and smelled strangely of old socks.

"I'm not really hungry." Kairi said trying to be polite, quickly putting down her bowl; even the smell made her feel woozy.

"I already ate." Enya muttered setting her bowl next to Kairi's. Jim lifted a spoonful hesitantly to examine the contents better, though the stench was enough to make him regret it almost immediately. However, his spoon suddenly started to move on its own, the ladle part acting as a mouth and swallowing the stew it was holding. As Jim, Enya, and Kairi stared the spoon transformed into a small, strange creature. Semi-transparent, a pink blob with large eyes floated in the air before diving into Jim's bowl to consume the rest of its contents.

"What…what is that thing?" Kairi said peaking over Jim's shoulder to watch the little creature happily swimming through the stew drinking it up.

Silver chuckled, "Why he's a morph, I found the little shape-shifter on Proteus One."

Morph leaned over the side of the bowl peaking over at the strangers with big eyes.

"Aw! He's adorable!" Kairi squealed in delight. Even Enya, who was not one to giggle over anything cute or girly, couldn't help but smile at the small shape-shifter. Morph leapt out of the bowl and floated in front of Jim. Morph made several happy gurgles and chirping noises, licking Jim's cheek Morph began to circle his head like a tiny moon.

"I think he likes you," Enya said with a smile. Jim merely shrugged, trying to act as though the little creature's attention was of no importance, the small smile on his face however, told otherwise.

By this point Silver had returned to his cooking and morph whizzed back over to him, hoping to steal a bite of food. The three teenagers just stood there, not really knowing what to say or do, all thinking the exact same thing. Was it possible that this cyborg was the one that Billy Bone's had warned them about? Mr. Silver, sensing the children's stares turned to look at them with his robotic eye and smirked.

"So…Captain's put you three with me, eh?"

Jim had returned to being his usual unruly teenage self and shrugged his shoulders in a non-caring fashion, still glowering at Silver, "Whatever…"

Silver merely chuckled, "Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue with a captain?"

Kairi, Enya, and Jim all glanced at each other as Silver continued to slice and dice at different strange fruits and vegetables. Enya stepped forward, hoping to ask a few questions when they suddenly hear loud shouts from up above. Silver glanced up at the ceiling as well.

"It's too early for us to be casting off yet…what the blazes could be going on up there?"

"We better go up and take a look." Enya said before she ran towards the stairs to the upper deck, Kairi right behind her and Jim also not far behind. Silver chased after them.

"Hey now! Get back here you three, you can't just go running off like-" His sentence was cut off when they had all reached the main deck to see that there were heartless and nobodies everywhere, taking treasure and attacking members of the crew. "What the devil…"

Enya saw Sora and Riku out on the main deck, keyblades already summoned. Goofy had climbed down from the crow's nest and ran to join them just as Donald appeared staff at the ready. Enya and Kairi ducked and weaved through the sailors that were either fighting or fleeing from the heartless to join the rest of their friends Jim right behind them.

"These are the creatures that attacked the inn aren't they?" Jim shouted over the sounds of the battles, "What are they?"

"Heartless and Nobodies," Sora explained blocking an attack, "we've dealt with them before, let us handle this!"

"Oh posh!" a voice behind them called as Captain Amelia jumped down from an upper deck gun at the ready; "nobody attacks my vessel and doesn't suffer my wrath! I'll see they all hang!"

No one really had time to argue with her as more heartless appeared over the side of the ship charging towards the group. Sora ran forward keyblade up and slashed through their dark bodies he turned to take care of the rest only to see Silver standing there, his mechanical arm had transformed into a thick sword, which he used to hack through several, heartless.

Like Jim, Enya, and Kairi, Sora remembered what Billy Bone had said about a cyborg. Sora starred stunned as Silver continued to fight, only the sound of Riku's voice yelling at him made him refocus. "Sora!"

Turning, Sora saw several nobodies flying towards him, Donald leapt in front of Sora raising his staff high into the air, "Blizzaga!"

The nobodies froze in midair and Riku ran forward smashing his keyblade into them, shattering the nobodies into a million pieces. Backing up Riku's back bumped into Sora's, "Focus Sora!"

"Sorry! But Riku…that guys, he's gotta be a cyborg right? Maybe he's the cyborg that Billy Bones warned us of!"

Riku glanced over at Silver who was still fighting off the remaining heartless and nobodies. "Let's just focus on the heartless for now; we can worry about him later."

Sora nodded, "Right!"

With that, Sora and Riku pushed off of each other and continued their battles. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and Enya were doing their best to protect the crew members from receiving any more damage than they had already suffered while Sora and Riku tried to break through the enemy ranks, taking out as many heartless and nobodies as they could. To be perfectly honest the heartless reminded Sora a lot of those he had seen in Port Royal, which helped a great deal in beating them. Finally, Sora slashed his keyblade through the last heartless which disappeared in the usual explosion of black smoke.

There was a moment of silence as all the crew members gathered around, all looking at Sora and the others who were standing in the middle of the deck. Captain Amelia stepped forward examining the small group of friends.

"So," She said slowly pacing the deck in front of them, hands behind her back, "you six are familiar with those blasted creatures that attacked my vessel?"

"Yes Captain." Sora said de-summoning his keyblade, "they are called Heartless and the other creatures are Nobodies, we've dealt with them before."

"I could tell, you all seemed quiet proficient in dispatching them," Captain Amelia mused, "well Sora it seems that you and your friends might be of some worth on the Legacy after all."

With that the Captain turned her back on the friends. "Prepare to cast off!"

**I am very sorry for how long this took to come out. I had some serious writers block and have been very involved in my first year of college. The character of Dolphy does not belong to me; she is a original character of a fantastic artist on DeviantArt that has allowed me to use her character. I love the character of Dolphy and thank her creator for allowing me to use her in the story, she will make a reappearance. **


	11. Planet Montressor RLS Legacy

CHAPTER 7: R.L.S Legacy

By this point the _R.S Legacy _had set sail. It had been amazing to see the ship slowly lift out of its port before blasting away into the night sky. Sora and the others had stared in awe at everything, from the solar sail to the creatures that flew around the ship. Doctor Doppler had called them Orcus Galacticus. Now they were sailing out into the sky, which seemed to go on forever, out into the unknown.

They all wandered the ship taking it all in. Enya leaned over the rail staring down into the black abyss. Riku and Sora had climbed into the crows-nest with Goofy to get a better look at the ship. Kairi was back in the galley seeing what there was below deck and Jim was climbing the shrouds.

Enya rested her elbows on the rail smiling to herself; these were the adventures that Sora and Riku had always played when they were children, adventures on the sea with a vast treasure ahead of them and evil creatures to defeat. Yes, this was everything their childhood fantasy created and more.

Jim climbed down and leaned against the ropes watching Enya, lost in thought, "Whatcha thinking?"

Enya glanced at him and smiled, "Nothing special…just how this is what I always imagined an adventure should be."

Jim grinned; it was the first time Enya had seen a real smile on his face. It really did make him look like a nice guy, as opposed to the moody teenager she'd seen so far.

"This is what I always wanted. Being stuck in that inn all my life, it was driving me crazy."

"You sound like Riku," Enya said hopping up on the railing so she was more eye-level with Jim, "all he ever talked about when we younger was getting off the island. He was obsessed with the idea."

"Looks like he got what he wanted," Jim replied running a hand absently through his hair.

"Yeah…" Enya said with a sigh. She looked back out at the glittering stars and the canvas of black and blue sky, "He finally broke free."

….

Captain Amelia was watching the hustle and bustle of the ship's crew with a keen eye, making sure that no mistakes were made. Her focus was broken however, when she heard a voice calling to her from the deck below.

"Ah, 'tis a grand day for sailing Captain, and look at you, you're as trim and as bonny as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat of paint!"

Looking over the railing Captain Amelia saw Silver standing on the deck below bowing deeply and smiling sheepishly up at her.

"You can keep that kind of flim-flammery for your spaceport floozies, Silver." Amelia replied coldly cutting the cyborg off before he could say anymore. The Captain turned her back on Silver, planning on leaving him there, when her keen cat-eyes spotted Jim and Enya talking. Amelia returned her gaze to Silver, "And, by the way, aren't those two gabbing away and aimlessly footling about your cabin boy and girl?"

Silver glanced over as well, "Yes….it…I-oh…"

Amelia rolled her eyes at his rambling and turned her back on him, "Take care of it Silver."

Silver let out a resigned sigh and turned to Enya and Jim muttering, "Very well…I'll deal with them."

As Silver drew closer he could hear Enya and Jim discussing in low tones. When he was close enough to the duo to hear them clearly he heard Jim whisper, "So, do you think this cyborg is the one that old salamander was talking about?"

Before Enya could do more than open her mouth to reply, Silver barked out, "JIMBO!"

The two teenagers jumped in surprise, stepping slightly apart from each other as though that would give the allusion that they hadn't just been talking. Kairi walked over at that moment, curious as to where everyone else had disappeared to, Silver resting his mechanical arm around her shoulders.

"Ah lass, there yer are. You're just in time! I got two new friends I'd like you all to meet."

The three friends glanced around, trying to see who these 'new friends' might be.

Silver smirked. "Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket!"

With that, he tossed a mop at Jim before he shoved a bucket into Enya's arms. He let out a long, deep laugh before turning his gaze on Kairi, "You lass can help me prepare the crews supper! I'm makin' more for me bonza bean stew!"

With that Silver lead a slightly bewildered Kairi back towards the galley. Jim returned to being the moody teenager, rolling his eyes and glaring after Silver.

"Yippee."

Sora and Riku climbed down from the crows-nest. Seeing Jim glaring at a mop and Enya pulling a sudsy cloth out of the dirty bucket, Sora grinned.

"That doesn't look like fun. Well, see ya!

"Hey wait!" Enya called out as Sora and Riku headed towards the galley, "where do you think you're going?! Aren't you going to help?"

It was Riku's turn to smirk, "Not our job Enya. You three are in charge of cabin crew; Sora and I help with the loading. That's done."

"Yep!" Sora said grin widening, "We're going to go eat!"

As Sora and Riku started back towards the galley Enya angrily threw the filthy rag after them, smacking Sora in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Serves you right!" Enya called after them as the two friends retreated to the safety of the kitchen galley.

….

Enya and Jim were scrubbing the deck of the ship, neither in a particularly pleasant mood. Jim angrily slopped the mop across the wooden planks.

"Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop." Jim muttered angrily under his breath as Enya continued to scrub the deck with the rag.

As Jim continued to clean still murmuring under his breath he accidently bumped into one of the crew. The figure turned and let out a low, soft, hiss. The crewmember was huge, with eight spindly legs, large claws and pincers. His bright golden eyes glared menacingly down at Jim.

"Cabin boyssss should know their place." The giant spider hissed.

Jim smirked and rolls his eyes, "Oh yeah, who's gonna put me in my place? You Bright-eyes?

The spiders eyes widened in fury, "Why you impudent little…"

With that the creature grabbed Jim by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the mast.

"Jim!" Enya quickly got to her feet as members of the crew circled around, cheering the bug on.

Not knowing what else to do Enya grabbed the mop that Jim had dropped. Holding it like a bat, Enya swung hard smacking the spider across the back. Letting out an angry howl of pain the spider turned on Enya knocking the mop out of her hand and shoving her back into several of the other crew members who all held her tightly.

As Enya struggled to get free she thought to herself, _"Well, that didn't go at all like I planned."_

Now holding Jim in its grasped the beastly-bug grinned, glancing between the two captives, "Well looky what we've got here…maybe you two would like to take a little trip over the rail!"

"I don't think so." A calm voice called through the crowd.

Everyone turned to see Riku standing there, keyblade casually in hand resting on his shoulder. Sora looked a lot more concerned already in his fighting stance with Kairi standing nervously beside them, holding two bowls of food. By the looks of it, Kairi had been bringing the food to Enya and Jim when the fight broke out, after that she had ran to get Sora and Riku.

Riku's voice was still calm but his eyes were fierce, "Put them down, now."

The spider glared down at Riku, straightening its long legs even more so that he towered over everyone, "And what makesss you think, you can order me boy?"

Sora tightened his grip on his keyblade, "Put them down or I'll-"

Before Sora could finish his sentence a long shadow fell over Sora. Glancing over his shoulder, Sora saw Silver standing there, hands deep in his pockets glaring at the big bug.

"Whatta think yer doing there Mr. Scroop?" Silver walked over casually, "You wouldn't be causin' trouble, now would you?"

Mr. Scroop didn't reply he only looked down at Silver yellow eyes flashing. Silver let out a dramatic sigh.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this…"

Before anyone could do anything else, Silver had his mechanical arm gripping one of the bug's claws. Silver squeezed tightly twisting Mr. Scoops arm. Scroop hissed in pain dropping in order to clutch his hurt wrist. Silver smirked up at Scroop but there with a glint in his robotic eye. It was intense enough that the crew members holding Enya let go and took several steps away from her.

"Now, back to work."

Sora expected Mr. Scroop to lash out at Silver, or stand his ground. Instead, the massive spider growled low in his throat and scuttled away. The remaining crew members left, leaving Sora and the rest of his friends alone. Sora's eyes followed Silver, who had waited to make sure Scroop went below decks before heading back to the galley. Then, he turned to look at Enya.

"You okay?"

Enya nodded rubbing her wrist and glaring after Mr. Scroop, "Better now that that bug psycho and his cronies' are gone."

Sora grinned, happy to see his sister wasn't really hurt; Riku had a very different look on his face. He was glaring at Enya.

"Can we go anywhere without you getting hurt?! It's like you attract disaster!"

Now it Enya's turn to glare, "That bug thing went after Jim, what was I suppose to do, just stand there?!"

"You can't keep pretending to be a hero Enya! You have no idea what you're doing."

"Oh and you do? Last time I checked there wasn't a manual for traveling from world to world hunting heartless and nobodies. You're just as over your head as I am, or any of the rest of us, Riku!"

"Um guys…" Sora said cautiously, casting a wary eye at Jim who was still listening, "Maybe you shouldn't be talking about this right now…"

Neither one was listening; both were glaring at each other, Riku still gripping his keyblade, Enya's arms crossed in defiance.

"I know a lot more about this then you do Enya, we've been doing this for nearly two years and never gotten into as much trouble as you have in the past few weeks!"

"Is it my fault that I didn't get sucked into that black hole with you guys? Or that I was stuck alone on the islands for almost two years? No, and you've screwed up just as much as I have! You told me yourself, back at Mickey's castle that you've given into your darkness, more than once!"

Now Riku was right in Enya's face, "Don't talk about things you don't understand…"

"Oh I understand. I understand that you abandoned me and everyone else on the island without a second thought! I understand that your obsession with getting off Destiny Island was greater than caring for your friends and family and that your obsession drove you to darkness!"

Fury flashed in Riku's eyes and he swung his keyblade at Enya. Enya dodged and summoned her daggers blocking his next attack and stabbing at him.

"ENOUGH!" Sora jumped between them swinging his keyblade down and casting wind, shoving the two apart. Sora looked between the two of them angrily, "I can't believe you two are fighting! We're all supposed to be best friends!"

Enya and Riku looked coldly at each other. After a moment of silence Riku de-summoned his keyblade and put his hands in his pockets.

"Whatever." With that Riku turned his back on Enya and walked away. Enya watched him go before looking down and walking away in the opposite direction leaving Sora and Kairi alone with Jim.

"So," Jim said after an awkward pause, "You guys are from a different world huh?"

….

Down in the galley the rest of the crew were sitting down around tables murmuring amongst themselves. Their voices ceased almost immediately when they heard the familiar, uneven steps coming down the wooden stairs. Everyone glanced up to see Silver walking slowly down the steps a cool smile plastered across his face.

"So, we're all here then?" His mechanical eye skimmed the members making sure everyone was assembled, "Good."

He started to wander among the crew members and they became nervous, glancing at each other worriedly. When Silver was happy, that meant ill for everyone else.

"Now, if you'll pardon my plain speech gentlemen," Silver said calmly as his mechanical arm rotated back to reveal his sword. As the sword clicked into place Silver's mellow demeanor broke and he bellowed, "are you all….STARK RAVING, TOTALLY BLINKING DAFT?!"

Silver swung his sword around wildly, narrowly missing several crew members, others had to jump back to avoid being stabbed. Now, Silver turned his attention onto Mr. Scroop who was standing in a corner his claws crossed.

"After all I went to gettin' us hired as an upstanding crew, you wanna blow the whole mutiny before its time?!"

Mr. Scroop glared back down at Silver, "That boy got in my way…and the rest of those bratssss have been sniffing around. They were the onesss hunting the heartlesssss at the inn. They know how to defeat them."

The rest of the crew grew restless, muttering and shifting with unease.

"It's true!" Another creature called out, "I thought those heartless things were suppose to be unbeatable, but that spiky-haired kid with the giant key can beat them no problem!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, Silver glared and they immediately fell silent.

"Listen to me the lot of ya! You all just stick to the plan…I'll deal with the brats. I'll work them all so ragged they won't have time to think."

….

Several days had passed since Riku and Enya's spat, and by the looks of things, neither was ready nor willing to apologize to the other. Not that they would have had time to do so, even if they had wanted to. Ever since the incident between the teenagers and Mr. Scroop, Silver had been working everyone to their absolute limit.

Sora, Donald, and Riku's arms ached from carrying huge crates of food and supply, up and down to the deck, galley, and storage rooms. Even Goofy had been called down from the crows-nest several times to assist them. Kairi, Enya, and Jim weren't fairing any better. They'd been subjected to any odd job Silver could think of, from cooking and cleaning the galley, to scrubbing the decks spotless. They had even spent almost an entire night scrapping space barnacles off the side of the R.L.S Legacy.

Sora wasn't stupid; he could tell that Silver was trying to distract them. After all, there were plenty of other crew members that would be better at the work, yet Silver never ordered them to do any of it. Sora also noticed that many of the crew members appeared to have an uncanny amount of respect for Silver. Several times, when Sora had snuck off to the crows-nest to talk to Goofy, Sora had seen that the rest of the crew would move aside for Silver or would come over to him and would talk in hushed tones.

"I just don't get it," Sora murmured his head resting on the rounded railing of the crows-nest, "Why does Silver seem to have so much power? I mean, he's just the cook!"

"I dunno Sora." Goofy replied peering through a spyglass, looking out at the vast starry sky, "Maybe they know him from before this voyage, or they want to make sure the food is good."

"They need to try harder then, I can't take another bowl of bonza bean stew!"

Goofy turned towards Sora, still looking through the spyglass and jumped in surprise when he saw how close Sora was through the glass. He let out a yelp of surprise and dropped the instrument over the rail of the crows-nest. Goofy gulped nervously as he and Sora watched it fall down to the deck below and shatter.

"Oh no…"

The spyglass smashed on the wooden deck below, glass flying everywhere. Captain Amelia, who was walking along the deck was casually observing the on goings of her vessel when the spyglass dropped and shattered right behind her. The Captain's silted eyes narrowed and looked up to see Sora and Goofy scrambling down from the crows-nest.

"Captain Amelia!" Sora exclaimed running over, "Are you okay?!"

She continued to glare down at the two friends, "Mr. Sora! Mr. Goofy! I will not tolerate any carelessness or acts of stupidity upon my ship!"

Amelia turned her gaze towards Enya and Kairi, who were throwing food scraps from last night's dinner over the side of the ship.

"You two, get over here and clean this debris up this very instant!"

Kairi and Enya hurriedly came over with a broom and dustpan and started to sweep the shattered remains up as the Captain walked away. Sora rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed.

"Sorry guys, I can clean it up."

Kairi smiled up at him as she dumped the contents of the dust pan into a bucket, "Don't worry about it Sora we've got it!"

Sora smiled back, then glanced around looking a little confused, "Shouldn't Jim be with you two?"

Enya nodded with a sigh, "Yes, but he's off with Silver again. I think they took the solar skiff out for a ride."

"Ever since the whole incident Silver has been keeping an eye on Jim," Kairi said, "After you told Jim about the other worlds and explained everything to him, he went to thank Silver for helping him out. I don't know what they said exactly but Silver seems to have become really fond of Jim!"

"Almost like a father figure to him," Enya continued, "I think its done Jim a lot of good; he's not nearly as moody as he use to be."

At that moment, the pink blob Morph came flying over to them circling Kairi and nuzzling against her, making happy chirping noises. Kairi giggled, tickling the little creature as Enya glanced out over the vast starry sky to see Jim and Silver returning in the solar skiff.

"There they are."

Sora glanced at Enya, who was still watching as Jim and Silver disappeared below the ship, "Enya, have you apologized to Riku yet?"

Enya turned to face him, leaning back against the railing, "Why should I? All I did was try to help Jim…that's what we do. I'm not going to apologize for trying to protect someone and that's that."

Sora wasn't sure how to argue with her when he heard Jim and Silver laughter coming up from below decks. Silver had his arm around Jim's shoulder chuckling.

"Aw Jim-bo! If I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, they'd be bowing in the street when I walked by!"

"I don't know. They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home." Jim said smirking a little. Then he looked up and saw the others standing around and smiled, "but I'm gonna change all that."

Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the entire ship lurched to the side with a loud groan, sending everyone stumbling or rolling across the deck of the ship. Silver slowly regained his balance.

"What the devil."

Doctor Doppler ran forward looking out into the sky around them and gasped at what he saw.

"Good heavens. The star Pelusa…it's gone supernova!"

The crew immediately jumped into action, running around obeying any order that Mr. Arrow or Captain Amelia shouted.

"All hands fasten your lifelines!" Mr. Arrow shouted as the crew continued to scramble around frantically.

Sora starred at the star which had exploded sending darkness and shrapnel in all directions. To his horror from within the supernova's darkness, heartless began to emerge and fly towards the ship.

As the heartless landed they would attempt to throw the sailors into the darkness or attack a giant machine in the middle of the ship. That machine was the artificial gravity, if that went, so would everyone aboard the ship.

Sora summoned his keyblade, "We have to stop them!"

There was another shock wave hit the ship sending everyone lurching once again, sliding down the decks as star shrapnel smashed into the side of the ship and tore holes in the sails. As Enya skidded down the titled deck, she managed to summon one of her daggers and stabbed it into the wooden floor, bringing her to a halt. Squinting through the dust and dim orange light, Enya could see Sora, Donald, and Goofy piled up on the lower railing. Kairi and Riku had managed to grab a hold of the mast and were clinging on for dear life. Continuing to look around Enya could see a laser cannon on the deck ahead of her. Gritting her teeth, Enya used her daggers to climb up the slanted deck to the cannon. Climbing into the seat Enya proceeded to aim and shoot down the meteoroids as they drew closer to the ship.

Without the constant battering into the side of their vessel the ship returned to its proper, upright position. Sora crawled out from beneath the dazed Donald and Goofy and quickly re-summoned his keyblade. He instantly went after the heartless that were attacking some of the crew members, including Silver and Jim. As the heartless disappeared with a swing of Sora's keyblade, Silver let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks lad."

Sora nodded in acknowledgement before making his way over to Kairi and Riku, who were attempting to rebuff any heartless that came too close to the artificial gravity mechanism. Before Sora could reach them however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, Sora saw Jim standing there, eyes flashing with determination.

"I wanna help!"

Sora considered briefly turning him down, but with the heartless running rabid and the crew and ship fairing so poorly, they could use all the help they could get.

"Okay," Sora said quickly, looking around, "make sure that everyone's lifelines a secured, if any heartless come near one call one of us over and we'll take care of them. Whatever you do, do not let those lifelines get loose!"

Jim nodded, "I'm on it!"

With that Jim darted off through the scrambling crew members to the mast where all lifelines were tied, quickly checking all of them to make sure the crew would be safe and secure. Sora returned his attention to the heartless, Donald and Goofy had finally regained their balance and were helping defend the crew. Riku and Kairi were continuing to defend the artificial gravity, anything that came too close, met a swift end. Things were starting to look up for the R.L.S Legacy, when suddenly a massive chunk of the star started hurtling towards the ship. Enya, still in control of the laser cannon fired blast after blast into the massive space rock but it kept coming closer and closer.

However, as quickly as the meteoroid had hurdled towards the ship, it abruptly stopped and began to go in the opposite direction. Looking out everyone could see what was happening. The Doctor stepped towards the railing to get a better look.

"It's devolving into a black hole!"

The black hole began to suck everything in, including the ship. Captain Amelia grabbed hold of the wheel and desperately tried to turn the ship around, but with the ship being pulled in, and the erratic burst of energy that came out of the black hole's depth, there wasn't much they could do.

Mr. Arrow, who had climbed up onto the sails rigging to survey the damage at hand when yet another blast struck the ship making him lose his balance. Toppling over the rigging the lifeline wrapped around his waist brought the giant rock man to a halt. Grimacing, Mr. Arrow tried to pull himself up when a dark shadow caught his attention.

Emerging from behind one of the sails Mr. Scroop appeared a wicked gleam in his golden eyes. Several heartless flanked him like minions all staring down at Mr. Arrow. Scroop's lips curled back in a cruel smile.

"Get him."

The crew was running around desperately, trying to carry out Captain Amelia's orders and avoid the heartless, no one noticed the heartless attack Mr. Arrow, or Mr. Scroop cutting his lifeline. The ship was slowly but surely being pulled in closer and closer to the depth of the black hole. Energy waves rippling out from it.

"Blast these waves!" Captain Amelia shouted as the force of the waves nearly made her lose grip on the wheel, "They're so deucedly erratic!"

"No Captain, they're not erratic at all!" Doppler retorted looking over several scanners, "There'll be one more in precisely 47.2 seconds. Followed by the biggest magilla of them all!"

Sora, who was fighting off several heartless at once, threw them off upon hearing this.

"Wait! Do you think that the solar sails will be able to use that energy to get us out of here?"

Captain Amelia looked down at him, "It could, but if it fails that blast will fry us in our skins and scales!"

"We have to try something!"

The Captain grimaced and kept silent for several agonizing seconds before nodding. Tightening her grip on the wheel she turned the ship away from the black hole.

"Get ready boys it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

The crew quickly scattered, hoping to find something to hold onto. Sora looked around and saw Kairi still standing next to the artificial gravity. Without thinking, Sora ran over to her, holding her close and pulling her to the ground shielding her. As the ship was pulled closer and closer to the darkness of the black hole, doubts started to cloud Sora's mind. What if the ships solar sails wouldn't be strong enough to get them out of the black hole? What if his plan really did fail and everyone on the ship was doomed because of him?

The ship plunged into the vast nothingness of the black hole, further and further. Suddenly, there was another blast of light from depth and the solar sails flared to life creating an energy surge, large enough that the solar sails flared bright and gave the engine enough power to plow forward. The force was so great that it sent crew members tumbling across the decks. Finally the R.L.S Legacy was free of the blackhole's grasp and continued to fly on into the starry night sky as the blackhole dissipated.

The entire ship burst into whoops and cheers of excitement and delight. Sora slowly looked up from shielding Kairi to see some of the creatures cheering for him, some even patted him on the back or ruffled his hair. Others were thanking Jim, if it hadn't been for him, their life-lines may have given out. Most of the applause however was directed at Captain Amelia, who had commandeered the ship throughout the whole ordeal. The Captain smiled slightly still steering, taking the thanks humbly.

Donald and Goofy, who had been clinging to Amelia's oversized boots when they had devilled into the blackhole, each opened one eye the tiniest bit to make sure the horrors were finally over. Once they realized they were in fact safe, the two friends glanced at each other, then with a loud sigh, flopped back onto the deck.

Riku was walking through the crowd of crew members to make sure everyone was alright. He saw Sora helping Kairi up from the ground after shielding her; he saw Donald and Goofy dazed on the floor on either side of Captain Amelia. Continuing to look around Riku spotted Enya climbing out of the laser cannons seat, slowly he walked over.

"Enya…"

Enya turned to face Riku arms crossed, "Riku, glad to see you're okay."

There was an awkward silence. Finally Riku broke it.

"I wanted to say, good thinking, using the laser cannon I mean. It helped."

"What, you don't think it made me look like I was pretending to be the hero." Enya's words were sharp with sarcasm and hurt. Riku couldn't help but wince a little.

"Look…about what I said before. I just- I mean that- I…you…"

Riku, usually calm and collected stumbled over the words he was trying desperately to get out. Seeing his plight, Enya's demeanor softened slightly and she touched Riku's shoulder to make him stop.

"Hey, I'm sorry too." She gave him a small smile.

Riku was half tempted to deny that he was going to apologize, but instead he smiled back ever so slightly and ruffled Enya's hair. Laughing Enya elbowed him jokingly in the side. Everything was back to normal.

Captain Amelia descended the stairs as the whoops and cheers died down. She examined her crew with a small smile playing across her lips.

"Which one of you secured the life lines?"

Jim stepped forward out of the crowd slowly, unsure of what to suspect from the Captain. Her smile grew ever so slightly.

"I must say Mr. Hawkins, you did a bang-up job with those life-lines, we are in your gratitude."

"Thank you ma'am, Silver has been teaching me." Jim replied grinning up at the cyborg that was standing next to him. Silver beamed down at Jim, giving him a fatherly pat on the head. Captain Amelia scanned the crew to make sure everyone was present. Unsure, she called out:

"All present and accounted for Mr. Arrow?" There was silence and the massive, stone man did not appear from amongst the crowd, "Mr. Arrow?"

Slowly the crew parted as Mr. Scroop, the immense spider came forward, Mr. Arrow's hat clutched in his claws.

"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost…" He held the hat out to Amelia, who took it in a stunned silence, "I tried to save him ma'am, but those creatures got to him. He might have stood a chance but, his life line was not secure."

All eyes turned on Sora and Jim; faces that just moments before had been smiling at the two with delight and praise, now wore looks of anger and disgust. Jim was the first to break out of his stunned horror.

"N-No! No I checked them all!" Jim quickly ran over to the mast where he had tied the ropes, one was gone.

"I did…I checked them all, they were secured," Jim turned desperately to face Amelia, hoping she would believe him, "I swear!"

Amelia looked at Jim with eyes filled with disappointment and pain, and that was enough to make Jim flea the deck. Silver immediately followed after Jim. Captain Amelia, clutching Mr. Arrow's hat – as though holding onto it would make his death untrue – slowly climbed the stairs to her cabin.

The crew gradually dispersed in silence, leaving Sora alone surrounded by his friends. Kairi stepped closer to Sora, who was staring at his own hands shaking slightly. Kairi put a hand on his shoulder tenderly.

"Sora…I…"

Before Kairi could think of anything else to say, Sora yanked himself free from her comforting touch.

"Don't, this is my fault…it's all my fault."

"Sora, don't say that!" Goofy said quickly, "You didn't know that Mr. Arrow was in trouble."

"That's the problem!" Sora shouted furiously, eyes shining with angry tears of frustration. "I'm the keyblade barer! I'm suppose to protect people from the heartless and now-now I've let someone down…"

Riku put his hands deep in his pockets, "You can't save everyone Sora."

"Yes I can! I have to!" Before anyone else could say anything. Sora shoved past Donald and Goofy and headed back below deck.

Enya went to follow when she noticed something. Where Scroop had been standing, there was something on the ground. Kneeling down to examine it, Enya realized it was a piece of rope, upon further inspection, Enya could tell that the rope had not frayed or come loose – it had been cut. Looking around, she saw Mr. Scroop standing not far off smirking after Sora. Raw rage swelled in the pit of her stomach as Enya came to the realization what might have actually occurred. Neither Sora nor Jim were to blame for what had happened, but someone else of the R.L.S Legacy might be.


	12. Planet Montressor Treasure Planet

_I'm not dead! I am so sorry for the wait; I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I last posted something… Here is another part of Sora's adventures on Treasure Planet. Enjoy! _

…_._

CHAPTER 7: Treasure Planet

Enya paced back and forth across the deck of the R.L.S Legacy in a state of inner turmoil. Enya knew most of the time how to fix things. When they were younger, it was usually Enya that would create compromises amongst her friends if something went wrong. This time however, she didn't have a clue what to do. It was clear to her that someone, other than Sora and Jim, were to blame for Mr. Arrow's death and although Enya had her suspicions, she had no hard evidence. To make matters worse both Sora and Jim were brooding, each thinking that they were the reason a comrade was gone. Enya had tried to help, only to have it blow up in her face. Sora was avoiding her like she was a plague of heartless and Jim, well to be honest she wasn't sure where things stood.

Enya had approached Jim, handing him the chunk of rope that she had discovered, hoping it would help convince him. She had told him her suspicions only for Jim to furiously throw the shred of rope over the railing and out into the vast nothingness of deep space.

"Don't you get it?!" Jim had shouted at her, jumping down from the shrouds and getting right in her face, "I screwed up! I mean I thought for two seconds I'd done something right but-"

At that point Jim grabbed at his hair in frustrated and turned away from her to slump, utterly defeated against the mast.

"Forget it…just forget it."

Enya had stepped forward to comfort her friend, "Jim, I know that you feel you're to blame for what happened. Trust me, no one knows better than I do. When I thought I'd lost Sora and the others I did nothing but blame myself. I-"

Jim turned on her, not angry this time but looking broken, "No, you don't know. You found Sora but Mr. Arrow isn't coming back and it's my fault. I can't do anything right! I feel worthless…"

"Jim, you aren't worthless! There is something special in you, we all see it! I wish you would too…"

Jim kept silent and Enya tried to draw closer to him she felt something metallic gently grip her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, Enya saw Silver standing right behind her, watching Jim.

"I've got this lass," Silver had said with a sad smile on his face, "you go see what you can do for that spiky haired friend of yer's, alright?"

So, here she was, pacing the deck while Donald, Goofy, and Kairi sat on the stairs, all feeling equally dejected. Apparently, they had had just as bad of luck with finding and comforting Sora as she had. Realizing that the pacing was doing nothing more than to make her feel worse Enya came to a halt, resting her elbows on the railing and looking out at the plethora of stars. It was suddenly sinking in that Mr. Arrow really was gone. During her time with her friends, on their wild adventures, they had had some close calls, but she'd never been worried that they wouldn't come back. When Riku had been thrown in jail, Kairi being banished with Cinderella, or even when Enya herself had been turned to stone, she'd never truly doubted that everyone wouldn't come out of it okay. Now that someone had fallen, the chances of something like that happening to someone she really cared about became all too real. Looking over at Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, it was clear they were all on the same mind set.

At that moment Riku walked over, hands deep in his pockets. His teal eyes scanned his disheartened friends and then turned over to where Sora was, sitting out on the bowsprit at the front of the ship.

"Is he still refusing to talk to anyone?" Riku questioned looking back at the others.

"Yeah…" Goofy replied sadly resting his head in his hands, "He just sits out there. Grawsh, I hope he'll snap out of it soon."

"It the same sad look he had when we first met him, remember?" Donald said looking at Goofy, "When he first got separated from Kairi and Riku. I told him no frowning, no sad face."

"Doesn't seem to be working now," Kairi responded looking over at where Sora sat, "I'm so worried."

Seeing the sadness on Kairi's face made a spike of anger flare inside Riku's chest.

"_That idiot Sora,"_ Riku thought clenching his fists, _"All he's doing in dwelling in self-pity and worrying everyone. He's always been so carefree…now look what his sulking is doing."_

Without a word to any of the others, Riku headed towards Sora. The tiny ball of anger in the pit of his stomach grew and grew. By the time Riku reached Sora it had irrupted into pure, cool, fury. Without hesitation, Riku grabbed Sora by the back of the collar and yanked him back onto the deck throwing his spiky haired friend to the ground. Sora was so startled he didn't have time to protest. As Riku advanced Sora quickly got to his feet.

"R-Riku?! What are you doing?!"

"Teaching you a lesson…" with that Riku summoned his keyblade and lashed out at Sora, who barely had time to summon his own and block. Upon seeing this, the other quickly leapt to their feet and raced over to where the two friends were now fighting. Riku was clearly the aggressor in this fight, slashing and hacking at Sora relentlessly. Sora struggled to continually block the onslaught of attacks. Kairi, Enya, Donald, and Goofy stood along the edge of the fight, all wanting to step in and help but terrified they would only end up in the middle, which right now was not a safe place it be.

After a few moments of consistently being attacked, Sora felt an anger of his own start to bubble forth.

"ENOUGH!" Sora shouted. He lashed out at Riku, Sora's keyblade striking against Riku's with so much force that Riku was knocked back into a stack of barrels. The hit was even powerful enough that it sent a shockwave sending the others skidding backwards.

After a few deep breaths Sora advanced on Riku glaring down at him, "What the heck Riku, why did you attack me like that?!"

Riku looked up from the broken remains of the barrels with a calm smirk on his face, "Because…I was getting sick of watching you sulk."

Sora kept silent as Riku slowly stood, his eyes sternly fixed on Sora. "Do you remember what I said to you, when we were trapped in the realm of darkness? About always being jealous at how you were better at stuff. How I wanted to live life the way you do? Where's that Sora? You've always been the one to push forward, no matter what, to keep the rest of us going even when we gave up."

Sora looked down at the floorboards, "I should've been able to protect everyone; it's what I'm supposed to do!"

Riku gripped Sora by the shoulder, "Sora…when were first sent to the different worlds, when I found Kairi without her heart, I blamed myself. I pushed the blame off on you, but deep down I blamed myself, and look what happened to me. I fell into darkness. You're stronger than that, Sora."

"But…"

"No buts, you say it's your job as a keyblade barer to protect people; then do it. Protect the ones you care for that are still here and protect the memories of those who aren't."

After a few moments of silence Sora looked up at Riku and nodded.

"Yeah…" a smile spread across Sora's face, "you're right, thanks Riku."

Riku smiled back and ruffled Sora's spiky hair, "Don't mention it. Now, why don't you head off to bed, it's getting late."

Sora nodded once again and headed across the deck to the stairs that led down to the sleeping quarters. Kairi turned to Riku and smiled up at him before following Sora down, Donald and Goofy quickly trailing behind her. There was a moment's silence, with only Enya and Riku left from the group of friends. The silence was broken however, when Enya punched Riku hard in the arm to make him stumble back in surprise.

"Ow!" Riku rubbed his arm and glared down at Enya, "What was that for?!"

"That was for attacking my little brother!" Enya shouted back at Riku arms crossed. Before Riku could come up with a protest or comeback however, Enya's demeanor softened and she gave him a quick hug, "That's for getting through to him. Thank you, Riku."

"It's nothing," Riku said with a smirk on his face, "A good fight has always been about the only thing I could ever do to get through to Sora."

The two friends started to laugh, remembering old times and how true what Riku had said really was. The only light was that of the stars all around them, the tiny lights of a thousand different worlds that seemed to be laughing along with them. In the dim light it was hard to distinguish each other's features. Even so, Riku could've sworn the tiniest flush of color had slowly crept into Enya's cheeks before she had released him from the hug. Giving an awkward cough and looking anywhere but at Riku, Enya quickly backed away from her friend.

"Well I…I mean…I-I should head below myself b-because….yeah," with that Enya hastily turned to follow the other. Riku stepped forward and abruptly stopped her.

"Enya wait…"

To be honest Riku didn't know why he had stopped her, he had nothing. But the urge had been there and without thinking he had called out to her. As Enya turned to face him again, another voice called out.

"Enya!"

Both friends turned to see Jim Hawkins walking towards them. A little ways behind him they could see Silver standing, smoking his pipe with Morph circling his head. The moody teenager came to a stop in front of Enya, hands deep in his pockets and shuffling his feet, embarrassed.

"Look, I know you were trying to help me early, by telling me it wasn't my fault. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm really sorry…"

Enya smiled and pulled Jim into a hug, "Hey, its okay. I'm just glad Silver got through to you."

It was Jim's turn to smile as he glanced back at the massive cyborg, "Yeah, he did."

With that Jim continued on his way towards the sleeping quarters, Enya went to follow but realized Riku wasn't doing likewise and came to a stop.

"Are you coming?" Enya asked, looking back at her silvered haired friend in confusion.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Still feeling confused by Riku's sudden change in demeanor Enya merely shrugged and descended the steps.

Riku waited till she and Jim were gone before letting out a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. Things were becoming complicated and that didn't sit well with Riku. For him, things were always simple. Even when they had tried to leave the island two years prior his solution had been simple, build the raft and see what happened from there. Now however, there were parts of his life that were starting to become very complicated.

He still had strong feeling for Kairi, yet he had been willing to help Sora save her. Back in Cinderella's world when she had been banished, he had the chance to be the hero but he had allowed Sora to be the one to save her. Then there was Enya. In all the years they had been friends and he had never seen her as anything more than a friend, Sora's older sister. Yet he could not forget the look on her face when she had watched the guards in Agrabah drag him away. He still felt the sudden grip of cold that had grasped him upon finding her frozen in stone in Lady Tremaine's garden. She'd been in the other worlds for the shortest period of time and yet seemed to be consistently falling into some sort of danger and usually it was her own fault. Why were girls suddenly so confusing?

Riku shook his head as if to clear it. He couldn't be bothered by something like that now. How he did, or did not, feel about either of his friends wasn't his main concern. There were bigger things to worry about, like finding the treasure, finding out who really killed Mr. Arrow, and most importantly, what Merrikh was up to now. They hadn't seen him since Agrabah but Riku had his suspicions that that pale, red eyed villain was the reason for a lot of the incidences that had befallen him and his friends. The best Riku could do however, was what he had always done; tackle things one step at a time. The first thing they could do was find Treasure Planet.

….

As Riku walked away, down the stairs to the sleeping quarters a shadow shifted on the mast. Mr. Scroop slowly emerged from the darkness, eyes glowing bright. Crawling down to the mast he scuttled across the deck to peer into the sleeping quarters. There they all were; sleeping soundly in their hammocks, the breeze slowly rocking them. It would be so easy to sneak in and kill them, kill these strangers. They were all too curious for their own good. Sneaking around, getting in the way of their plans.

There was a quiet hissing sound behind Scroop, the sound one hears when water is poured over the embers of a dying fire. Turning Scroop saw a cloaked figure immerging from a sphere of mist.

"Misssster Merrikh," Scroop said in his low voice, "Where have you been?"

Merrikh lowered his hood, red eyes flashing and although his voice was quiet, there was an anger in it that was terrifying enough to make Scroop step back.

"You are in no position to be asking me questions, Scroop." Merrikh's hand rested on the hilt of his blade as looked around the deck of the ship, "What happened? That stunt you pulled with Mr. Arrow."

"He was getting in the way! He-"

"You were seeking your own revenge and looking for an excuse to test your new strength." Merrikh interrupted coldly, "I am not interested in your personal vengeance. If you want to keep that power of darkness I have given you, I highly recommend you remember your place."

Scroop hissed low under his breath. However, unlike Mr. Arrow, or the Captain, this stranger that had appeared to him – that had given him the power to summon the dark creatures – did scare him enough to hold his tongue. Merrikh looked out at the stars, all the worlds that would soon be his.

"You were meant merely to keep an eye on the key barer and his friends. I gave you the power to summon the heartless and use the darkness in your heart in order to make sure that Sora boarded this ship, where you and your crewmates could assist me when I was ready."

"Ready for what exactly?"

Merrikh smirked, "I am the Soulkeeper, bender of souls. However, as powerful as souls can be…having power over the hearts as well, I would be able to wield unimaginable power."

"Where does the boy come in?"

"Sora wields the Kingdom Key; it can unlock any door, even the door to Kingdom Hearts. Yet, the boy does not wish to open the door. He wishes to see the worlds returned to light. I intend to use him to open the door, and become the controller of hearts, souls, and all worlds. In return for assisting me, you will have all the wealth your black heart can possibly desire."

Scroop nodded, he didn't understand any of this about souls and hearts or other worlds, nor did he care. All he wanted was the gold of Treasure Planet, so he would go along with this strangers plan.

"Now go." Merrikh said turning his back on Scroop. With that Scroop scuttled down into the sleeping quarters with the rest of the crew. Once he was gone Merrikh chuckled to himself. This massive spider was truly a fool. He did not understand what he was helping Merrikh to attain. When Merrikh finally had Sora and the keyblade, Merrikh would be able to open Kingdom Hearts. When that happened he could control everyone, their very beings.

There were some bumps in his plan, he knew that. Sora would not bend easily; his friends would get in the way, and then what he had seen in the lake in his castle. However, he had ways of making people bend to his will. One thing was for certain, Merrikh would have his way; the worlds would give in to the darkness. He took one last look up at the stars, how revoltingly bright they were, so full of light and of hope. Soon they would all be put out, one by one.

….

The following morning Sora woke up groggy and disoriented. Looking around through the dimly lit area Sora could make out the many different shapes of the other crew members, all still dozing in their hammocks. However, the hammock usually occupied by Jim seemed to be empty. Sora remembered that Jim had also blamed himself for the death of Mr. Arrow; was he okay? Jumping down from his own hammock Sora quickly climbed up to the deck to look for his newest friend. Sora hadn't known Jim for very long, but the time they had spent together on the R.L.S Legacy had been great! Once Jim had finally let his walls down and let others get close to him Sora could tell that he was a really good guy.

Looking around on the main deck Sora heard shouts and laughter and quickly followed the noises. Rounding a corner, Sora saw Jim chasing after Morph, who had apparently stolen one of Jim's boots. The little pink blob seemed to have a habit of nabbing anything it could get a hold of: from Sora's crown necklace to Kairi's good luck charm. Now however, it was Jim's boot, and Jim was not having much luck in recovering his stolen footwear. Walking over, hands behind his head, Sora went to Jim grinning.

"Want some help?"

Jim turned to face Sora with a start, not realizing the spiky haired boy had been there. While he was distracted Morph changed into a puffer fish, and sprayed water at the back of Jim's head. Letting out a surprised cry, Jim turned around and made a grab for the mischievous creature.

"Get back here you!" Jim said with a laugh, making a grab at Morph. Morph dropped the boot in order to get away and Jim quickly snatched the stolen footwear up and slipped it on. Jim wasn't done with his small pink friend just yet. Jim made another grab at him and Morph darted out of Jim's grasp, down the stairs to the kitchen galley. Jim let out a sigh and turned to Sora, hands deep in his pockets.

"Maybe, I could use some help…"

Sora laughed and gave Jim a light punch on the shoulder, "No problem! Between the two of us, we can find Morph."

With that the two friends descended down the stairs, both trying to keep as quiet as possible in the hopes of sneaking up on the pink blob. They had been on the ship long enough to know that Morph loved to steal an item and then play hide and seek. However, Morph often transformed himself to fit into his surroundings, making the game even more of a challenge. They checked under tables, and in cabinets. Just as they felt like giving up Sora passed by a barrel of fruit and heard a noise from within. Peering down into the barrel, Sora noticed that one of the fruits was peering back.

"Gotcha!" Sora exclaimed, reaching down and grabbing the fruit-shaped Morph. Jim walked over and Morph immediately returned to his natural shape, chirping and circling around the two friends. At that moment however, Sora and Jim heard several people descending the stairs, one voice they both immediately recognized.

"He came to the ship lasssst night and gave me ordersssss."

The voice was distinctly Scroop's and after all the events that had occurred upon the ship, neither Jim nor Sora wanted to be in the same room as the massive spider. With Scroop coming down the stairs however, there was nothing to do but hide. Sora was also curious who was giving Scroop orders. It wasn't Captain Amelia or Scroop would have said 'she' not 'he'. Without thinking Sora quickly pulled Jim behind the barrels.

"What are you-" Jim started to ask indigently but Sora clamped a hand over Jim's mouth to silence him. Scroop scuttled into the galley, followed by several other crew members, who sat down at a table.

"That man Merrikh came onto the ship lassst night," Scroop continued as he sat down, "He said that he needsss the brat alive…perssssonally I say we kill them all now."

Sora's eyes went wide; Merrikh had been on the ship?! That meant that Merrikh could indeed travel to other worlds. They hadn't seen the red-eyed man since Agrabah but Sora had had the distinct feeling that Merrikh had been behind other events. Hadn't Anastasia back at Cinderella's world told them that it had been Merrikh that had given her mother the wand? It was Merrikh that had been traveling to all the worlds and causing the destruction that befell them. But why, and who did Merrikh want kept alive? Sora got his answer as Scroop continued to speak with his fellow crew members.

"It'sss that boy, SSSSora. Apparently, Merrikh has ssssome sort of plan for the boy. I don't care what that mansss got planned! I've got the power to control thossse ssstrange creatures. We can sssstart our mutiny now, and hang what the captain ssssays!"

Jim and Sora exchanged looks of horror. Jim may not have known what or who Merrikh was but the rest of the conversation was clear enough to him. Scroop and some of the crew, if not the rest of it were pirates and they intended to take over the ship. Suddenly, they heard someone else coming down the stairs, and the sound of this voice drove a stake right through Jim's heart.

"What was that Scroop about hang what the Captain says?" Silver said coolly as he meandered into the room.

Another one of the crew members, an ugly female looking creature that only consisted of a head and arms was the first to speak up.

"He meant no disrespect, Captain, sir! All we're saying is we're sick of waiting. Now that Arrow is gone there's only a few of them left. We have to keep the Sora kid alive but the rest don't matter. We can take care of them and-"

"And what?!" Silver bellowed making the crew member immediately scuttle behind her comrades, "Those strangers aren't like anyone we've faced before; those weapons they carry can take care of the heartless no problem."

Scroop smirked, darkness came off him in smoky tendrils, "I'm ssstrong enough to handle those bratsss. I sssay we kill'em all now."

Silver clamped his iron hand around Scroop's neck, startling the bug enough to make the darkness dissipate. The look on Silver's face was one of pure rage.

"I say what's to say! Disobey my orders again, like that stunt you played with Mr. Arrow, and so help me, you'll be joining him!"

With that Silver threw Scroop across the room knocking him into the barrels which Sora and Jim were hiding behind. If the two boys hadn't steadied the barrels they would've been discovered. Glaring Scroop turned to face Silver again. Before anyone could say anything else they all heard Goofy's voice from up above.

"Land ho! Hyuck! Land ho!"

With that the crew quickly ran for the stairs to get onto the deck to see what they had been waiting for this whole time. After a moment, Sora and Jim emerged from their hiding spot. Jim was clearly devastated, the man he had come to look to for support and even as a father figure was nothing more than a pirate. Silver had been using him and the others. Sora placed a hand on Jim's shoulder, trying to comfort him the best he could.

"Jim, we need to find the others, tell them what we know."

Jim only nodded, looking as if the ground had fallen right out from underneath him. Sora quickly towed Jim towards the stairs but just as they reached them, their path was blocked by none other than, Silver. The cyborg looked surprised to see them, but after a second to collect his thought a cool smile played across his face.

"Ah, hello there lads…what brings you two down here?" Sora tried to step around him but Silver stuck out his arm to block his path, "What's yer rush boy? You in a hurry to get away from me?"

Behind Silver, Sora could see the other crew members starting to descend the stairs; they were going to be trapped down in the galley with blood thirsty pirates. This was not particularly appealing to either Sora or Jim. Glancing at each other they both came to a silent agreement. Sora dodge rolled to Silver's left, while Jim jumped over a table and around Silver to the right. The cyborg didn't have enough time to react as the two teenagers barreled through the crew members and across the deck. Silver turned to the crew furiously, his metal arm rotating back and was replaced with a sword.

"Change in plans lads! Stop those boys and round them all up. The mutiny starts now!

….

Donald, Riku, Kairi, and Enya were all out on the deck staring at the planet ahead of them. Goofy, who was still up in the crow's nest had a better view and could see how similar the planet was to the map that Jim had been given by Billy Bones. After all this time they were finally here, Treasure Planet.

As the group of friends continued to stare at the planet as the ship drew closer and closer they suddenly heard shouts and saw Jim and Sora running away from the kitchen galley, they were followed by several of the crew members, all brandishing some sort of weapon. One of the crew members, a large beast with four arms carried a sword in each and charged Sora. Sora turned just in time to summon his keyblade and block the attack.

"Sora!" Kairi cried, summoning her own keyblade she ran forward and bashed the large beast across the face sending him flying back.

"Thanks Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, taking her hand and quickly pulling her up the stairs towards the Captain's quarters. The others followed; each of them had their own weapons ready by this point and tried their best to keep the crew at bay.

"S-Sora," Kairi stuttered as he continued to pull her along, "What's going on?!"

"They're pirates!" Jim answered; he was walking up the stairs backwards, firing a plasma pistol at anyone who drew too close to himself or his friends.

"What?!"

"We don't have time to explain," Sora replied as he pulled Kairi into the Captain's quarters. The others all followed and Jim latched the door behind them.

Inside the Doctor and Captain were examining several maps and star charts. However, upon having the herd of friends come rushing in, both looked up in surprise. The Captain's expression was mixed with indigent anger.

"What is the meaning of this? I do not recall ever requesting the presence of a gaggle of adolescence, in my quarters. Now get out before I-"

"Captain you need to listen to us!" Sora pleaded. Without waiting for permission from Amelia, he told everyone what he and Jim had heard; from how the crew were really pirates planning a mutiny, to how Merrikh seemed to be the one behind all of it.

There was a moment of silence as everyone began to process what was happening. It was broken however, by the sound of the pirates trying to break down the door.

"Right," Captain Amelia stated curtly walking over to the cabinet where she had stored the map, "No time for lollygagging we need to get out of here. We will make a run for the longboats and escape to the planet."

The Doctor stepped forward looking worried and afraid, "A-And how do you propose we do that exactly?"

Amelia tossed Doppler a gun which he barely managed to catch.

"We fight our way through if we must," She turned to face Jim holding the map out to him, "Mr. Hawkins, defend this with your life."

The Captain tossed Jim the gold sphere, but in midair Morph, who had followed them into the Captain's quarters, snatched it. Jim made a desperate grab for it and Morph flew out an open window. Sora ran over and looked out to see where the mischievous pink blob was heading. To Morph, this was just another game of hide and seek. To Sora and the others it added another dilemma to an already growing list. They now had to not only reach the long boats without the pirates capturing them; they also had to find Morph and the map. Kairi also leaned out the window trying to see where Morph had gone.

"What do we do Sora?" Kairi asked looking nervous.

Sora's expression turned to one of determination as he looked at everyone gathered around.

"First things first," Sora said as he hoisted himself out on the window ledge, "We gotta get that map!"

….

Outside the Captain's Quarters the pirated were using laser guns in an attempt to melt through the lock on the metal door. Silver, shoving his way to the front of the group used his cyborg arm to break down the door and the crew quickly rushed inside. Silver entered the room, looking around to see where the group of friends was. Yet, they were nowhere to be found. Neither Jimbo, Sora, nor any of the rest of them were in the lavish room.

"I know they're here somewhere," Silver murmured still looking around.

Then something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye Silver saw something outside the large windows, a pair of legs struggling and kicking. As Silver hurried towards the window the legs (and the person they belonged to) were hoisted up. Leaning out of the window Silver saw Doctor Doppler struggling over the rail to the deck above, and Riku and Sora desperately attempting to help the squirming man. Once they got Doppler over the rail, Sora glanced down and, to his horror, saw Silver starring right back up at him. The rest of the group also noticed the cyborg and quickly made a run for it.

Silver smirked and turned to the crew still searching the room, "They're out on the upper deck! Stop them!"

….

By this point Sora and the others were frantically trying to find Morph and the map while defending themselves from the onslaught of pirates. Enya quickly searched through some of the barrels only to have one of the pirates slash at her with a huge sword. Ducking behind the barrels to avoid being sliced, Enya looked up just in time to have another pirate swing a club at her. She quickly rolled out of the way as the beast smashed the barrels to splinters.

The others weren't having any better of a time trying to find the map. Riku rummaged through several large crates that were on deck when several crew members charged him. Summoning his keyblade, Riku used his weapon like a bat and sent the huge crate sliding across the deck and crashing into the pirates knocking them to the ground. Goofy was attempting to act as a battering ram, his large shield crashed through the crew members, scattering them. Sora stood at the door as Captain Amelia led Doppler and the others down to the lower decks to get to the long boats. As soon as everyone was in, he closed the door on the advancing enemy.

"Donald! Seal it!"

Donald raised his staff and hit the lock with a fire spell, melting the lock so that a key would no longer be enough to open the door. Amelia looked at the door and gave a small satisfactory nod.

"Well done my pullet friend, but that wouldn't stop them for long. Everyone to the life boats quickly!"

"But what about the map?" Sora protested as the Captain started to prepare the boats for their escape.

"Mr. Sora, I don't know how you feel about our current state of affair, but I feel that it would be far better idea to escape to the planet and live to see another day, than to die trying to find that spherical atlas. Now get into the dingy!"

Sora gritted his teeth in frustration but nodded. He quickly helped Kairi into the long boat as well as Enya and Donald. Riku jumped in and pulled Doppler up just as they heard an explosion. The door had been blasted apart and the pirates were pouring through the hole like rats. Jim jumped into the boat and started firing plasma blast at the pirates while Goofy quickly scrambled in. Just as Sora was about to jump in he noticed something. When the pirates had burst in, a pile of rope had seemed to have shifted. Looking at the rope it suddenly transformed into Morph holding the map.

"There it is!" Sora shouted and quickly ran after Morph.

"Sora, no!" Enya screamed, trying to jump out of the boat to follow him.

Jim yanked her back as the pirates started to shoot at the boat. Sora chased after Morph, who ducked and weaved out of Sora's grasp, still thinking it was all a game. Silver, who had just descended the stairs, saw Sora chasing Morph, and more importantly, what Morph was holding. Silver also ran after Morph and came to the end on a deck, with Sora on one end, and Morph in the middle. Silver raised his cyborg arm and it clicked back into a gun as Sora hefted his keyblade and took his stance.

"I don't want to fight ya lad," Silver called to Sora, slowly drawing closer to Morph, "I just want the map and the treasure."

Sora glared, "Yeah, I know that's all you want. You don't care about anything else but your treasure! You never cared about Jim or anyone else!"

Those words made Silver stop dead in his tracks, his arm was already reaching out for Morph and the map. It was just the distraction Sora needed; he quickly charged Silver, sliding across the deck on his knees and bringing his keyblade across Silvers mechanical leg, tearing it open. The cyborg yelled in pain and fury and crumpled to the ground. Startled, Morph quickly dove into a pile of rope below, taking the map with him. Sora, quickly reaching into the piles of cord grabbed the map and ran back to the dingy, which was still trying to keep the other pirates at bay.

As Sora jumped onto the dingy, the pirates started to close the large doors that would allow the boat to escape. There was no way to reopen the doors from within the boat and the automatic cable was not lowering the boat quickly enough to get through. Enya swiftly summoned her daggers and throw one at each of the two cables keeping the boats up. The daggers easily cut through the cables and the boat plummeted through the hole and down into space. Captain Amelia struggled to start the ship mid fall but she managed and the ship full of all of Sora's friends quickly navigated towards Treasure Planet.

What no one on the small ship noticed was that aboard the deck of the R.L.S Legacy, one of the pirates had aimed the laser cannon at their ship, hoping to blast them out of the air. Silver, who had stumbled up to the main deck, clutching at his mangled robotic leg saw what the brigand, intended to do.

"Hold your fire!" He shouted rushing over to the canon, "We'll lose the map!"

Silver managed to push the end of the canon slightly, which threw off the aim but not enough. Doppler, who at that moment had glanced back at the Legacy from the long boat, pointed in horror.

"Captain! Laser ball at twelve o'clock!"

Amelia desperately tried to avoid the impact; however, it was too late. The laser ball collided with the back end of the dingy, causing it to burst into flames and the engine to break loose. In a whirl of flames, and shrapnel the dingy plummeted towards the planet's surface. Amelia desperately tried to maneuver the long boat as it drew closer to the ground until they finally collided. The remains of the dingy hit the ground hard, skidding across the planet's surface till its shattered remains finally came to a rest.

Groaning, Enya looked up rubbing the side of her head as she slowly sat up. She had been thrown from the dingy and was covered in small cuts and bruises.

"I-Is everyone alright?" Enya called out to the others as she gingerly got to her feet.

Sora, who had landed not too far from her, also got to his feet. He was holding his side, which twinge with pain slightly. "Yeah, I'm alright. What about you?"

Enya nodded before looking around. The rest of their friends had not been thrown from the long boat, which was now upside down in the dirt a few yards away. The two siblings ran over and flipped the small boat back over to reveal the rest of their friends. Each of them were dazed but seemed alright. Riku was the first to recover and looked up at Enya and Sora.

"Well, that was fun…" Riku stated sarcastically as he stood before helping Kairi up, who was next to him. Doppler unsteadily got to his feet, readjusting his glasses and looking over at Riku.

"Fun my dear boy? If that was fun, it is more fun than I ever want to have again."

Kairi dusted herself off looking at the wreckage and then up at the R.L.S Legacy floating far above.

"I can't believe that Silver is a pirate."

"None of us ever saw it coming," Enya replied as she knelt in front of Jim who still seemed out of it, "Are you alright?"

Jim nodded, rubbing the back of his neck before he too got up as Sora helped Donald and Goofy. Captain Amelia however, who was still on the ground made no attempts to stand. She was clutching her side and was obviously in a lot of pain. Doppler and Sora quickly approached her and she shooed them away.

"Don't fuss! It's just some slight bruising." Amelia said sternly looking up at everyone before focusing her attention on Sora, "Did you manage to get the map?"

"Yeah," Sora replied quickly reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small, gold sphere, "I've got it right here."

At that moment the map slowly floated out of Sora's hand. Everyone stared as the sphere hovered before transforming into none other than, Morph. The pink, goo creature burst out laughing, incredibly pleased with itself for tricking everyone into believing he had actually been the map. Sora and the others were not amused.

"Morph?!" Jim shouted in a mixture of fury and horror, "Morph, where's the map?!

Morph, still not comprehending that gravity of the situation merely pointed up at the R.L.S Legacy. Everyone stared in dismay, looking between Morph and the massive ship.

"It's back on the ship?!" Enya shouted glaring at the pink blob. She made an angry grab at him and startled Morph quickly floated over to hide behind Kairi making scared chirping noises.

"Enough!" Captain Amelia shouted, "At any moment those black-hearted brigands are going to come looking for us. We are going to need a more defensible position than the middle of this field. I'll lead, you all follow."

Captain Amelia tried to stand, only to fall back onto her hands and knees, one hand grasping her side. Kairi and Doppler quickly went to her aid, trying to inspect the damages. Kairi reached into her side satchel, hoping that she may have a health potion or something to ease the pain, but all she found was air.

"I'm out of potions," Kairi said looking up at the others, "Donald, do you think your magic could do anything."

"I can try…" Donald answered; he was unsure how much a low level healing spell could actually do.

"We still need to find a place to hide," Enya stated looking around, "While Donald is helping the Captain I'll scout ahead, see if I can at least find somewhere to rest."

As Enya started off, she heard someone follow. Turning, Enya saw Jim right behind her, his plasma pistol at the ready.

"I'll go with you."

"We should all probably pair off and search," Kairi said getting to her feet, "Sora and I can head in one direction and Riku and Goofy as well while Donald and the Doctor stay here to work on the Captain."

Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly dispersed.

….

Enya and Jim slowly made their way through the strange forests of Treasure Planet. Everything had a strange greenish hue; the trees and planet life consisted mostly of large spores and odd looking mushrooms. As they walked along, looking for somewhere, anywhere that would be safe and large enough to hold so many people; Enya kept glancing over her shoulder. Perhaps it was just paranoia after what had happened on the ship, but Enya had the funny feeling that they were being watched. Jim noticed and came to a stop.

"What is it?"

Enya kept her gaze locked on a clump of tubular looking plants a few feet away, unable to shake the feeling. She glanced at Jim and put a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet before pointing at the plants. Jim understood and powered on his gun, cautiously he drew closer to where Enya had pointed. Enya also summoned her daggers and followed Jim, trying to prepare herself for an onslaught of pirates, heartless, or whatever else this planet would throw at them.

As Jim leaned in to see what was hiding, something reached out and grabbed his wrist, holding on tightly. Jim struggled but whatever it was refused to let go.

"Jim!" Enya cried and quickly grabbed the thing pulling at her friend.

Enya yanked it out of the bush, flipping the creature over her shoulder and pinning it on the ground, one dagger raised to strike. What had latched onto Jim was a robot; rusted and decaying but still active. It starred up at them, its pixilated green eyes wide. Enya was stunned, she had expected a pirate or heartless, but not this. Suddenly the robot threw Enya off and went at Jim again. Jim had not time to react before the metal being charged and threw his arms around Jim, and pulled the horrified teen, into a hug.

"Oh this is fantastic!" The robot exclaimed as it latched onto Jim, "A carbon-based life form come to rescue me at last!"

"What the…" Enya slowly got to her feet and dusted off, "So wait, you aren't going to attack us?"

"Attack you? Of course I'm not!" The robot head rotated all the way around still holding onto Jim, "I've been waiting a hundred years for someone to come and get me off this planet. The last thing I'm going to do is attack my rescuers!"

"That's great," Jim grumbled as he tried to free himself from the robots grasp, "but will you let go of me!"

"O-Oh right," the robot said sheepishly as it released from Jim and took a step away for good measure, "I should probably introduce myself. My name is…ummm…"

"Don't you know your own name?" Enya asked arms crossed, looking at the robot in confusion.

"Oh of course! I'm B.E.N! Bio Electronic Navigator! And who are you two?"

"I'm Enya, and this is Jim." Enya replied putting a hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Enya, and Jimmy! Well it's a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Its Jim," Jim glowered at B.E.N before starting to pull Enya along, "C'mon."

"Hold on Jim," Enya said digging her heels into the ground to slow Jim down, "you heard the freaky robot. He's been here for hundreds of years; he probably knows this planet better than anyone! He could help us."

"Maybe you've forgotten there are pirates looking for us. We don't have time to waste here with that rusted pile of junk."

Suddenly B.E.N was standing between them, "I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear you say something about pirates. If you are here for a good pirate story I'm the machine to talk to! I remember my time with Captain Flint! This guy had such a temper."

While B.E.N had been talking Jim had been trying to shove Enya along, however, upon hearing the name Captain Flint, he came to an abrupt halt.

"Wait, wait, wait… you knew Captain Flint?! So, you've got to know about the treasure."

"Treasure?" B.E.N asked looking confused.

"Yeah," Jim said excitedly, "Y'know Flint's Trove, the loot of a thousand worlds."

"Well it's all a l-little f-f-fuzz-zy…" B.E.N said slowly his computer like eyes glitching ever so slightly, "W-Wait, I r-r-remember, I do! Treasure! Lots of Treasure!"

At this point the glitching was getting worse as B.E.N tried to recall his past. His voice would flux, like a poor recording and his body jerked around as if his wiring was loose.

"It's burie-buried in the centriod of the mechanism!"

"Mechanism, what mechanism?" Enya asked.

"I d-don't know the data is inaccessible." B.E.N replied looking dejected.

"I don't understand, what data?" Enya asked again even more confused.

Jim walked to B.E.N to take a closer look.

"This explains it," Jim murmured, he quickly turned B.E.N around so that Enya could see the back of the robots head, "Someone removed his primary memory circuit. Without that he can't remember most of his past data and can't retain a lot of current memory data either."

"Well even without it, I'm sure he could help us." Enya turned B.E.N so that he was facing her properly, "B.E.N, Jim and I along with a group of friends are looking for a safe place. You said that you have been on this planet for a really long time, so you have to know a good place for us all to hide, right?"

" Hmmm, a good and safe place, a safe place." B.E.N tapped a metal finger to his chin thinking, "Nope! Sorry, I can't think of a place! This whole world is a death trap, not to mention those weird shadow creatures that appeared here suddenly."

"Shadow creatures?" Enya felt her stomach drop slightly, "What do these shadow creatures look like?"

"Oh you know they all look a little different, but the most common are these little fellas with black bodies and big glowing eyes."

"Heartless," Enya muttered, "Just what we need. The Captain is hurt, we're running from blood thirsty pirates, we're no nearer finding the treasure, and now there are heartless here."

"All the more reason to keep searching," Jim stated pulling Enya along. He glanced back at B.E.N, "If you're gonna come along you need to keep that metal mouth of yours shut and no more hugging me, ever. You got that?"

B.E.N nodded eagerly and followed Jim and Enya as they continued along, "So, you don't seem too fond of these heartless thingy's, why is that?"

"They are creatures of darkness intent on destroying the light of each and every world," Enya replied as they continued to walk along, "They are born from the darkness within the heart. Sora, that's my little brother, and our friends fight against them in the hopes of restoring balance and light to the worlds."

"Well that's nice!" B.E.N stated cheerfully walking along side the teenage girl. Clearly he didn't understand the magnitude of what Sora and the others actually did.

Enya gave a small laugh, "Yeah, I guess it is. They do a lot of good, saving and protecting people and their worlds. I'm sorta new to the whole traveling to different worlds and fighting evil creatures."

"But you can fight them, right?" B.E.N inquired coming to a stop.

"I do alright," Enya replied, turning to face the robot.

"Oh good," B.E.N said, pointing behind Enya and Jim, "here's your chance to prove it."

Out of the jungle heartless began to appear, they emerged slowly. There were so many that their black bodies blocked everything behind them from view. Enya quickly summoned her daggers while Jim pulled out his plasma pistol.

"There's no way we can take them all on by ourselves!" Jim shouted. He fired several shots into the mass of heartless.

"We have to try!" Enya retorted her daggers cutting through several heartless that drew too close.

The two friends continued to fight, Jim shooting into the crowd of heartless, any that he missed Enya would charge forward and hack through with her daggers. They kept close; making sure the other wasn't in danger. Heartless charged from all directions, keeping the two friends constantly dodging and defending while still trying to eliminate the mass of darkness. Somehow, they were able to clear the heartless and come out moderately unscathed. Enya lowered her daggers feeling exhausted from the constant stream of fighting.

"We did it…" Jim sighed, looking around, "I can't believe we actually did it! I didn't screw up!"

Enya smiled and ruffled Jim's hair, "Of course you didn't. We make a pretty good team.

She watched as the hearts of those consumed by darkness floated away into the sky, and disappear. Enya had heard of Kingdom Hearts, the world where all hearts accumulated. She'd even been told in fairytales and kids stories that Kingdom Hearts was the Heart of all the worlds, and that at one point all the worlds had been only one. It was an odd thought. As she watched, Enya saw the white mist that seemed to float around each heart. Enya let out a shaky sigh and leaned against a rock for support. While she hadn't been suffering from the breathing difficulties she use to when fighting heartless, she hadn't fought such a large group in a long time. The phantom pains of the icy hand that use to wrap itself around her heart were still there.

"Gee you two did great!" B.E.N shouted coming over to the two friends.

"You could've helped y'know," Jim murmured putting his plasma pistol back in his belt. Jim turned back to Enya and saw how pale she was, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Enya said weakly, she gave him a small smile. In truth she was rather proud of herself, that was one of the first times she had been in a large fight like that and not needed someone to save her from doing something stupid.

"_Too bad Riku wasn't here to see that,"_ Enya thought smirking, _"Maybe then he wouldn't worry about me so much."_

"We still need to find a place to rest," Jim stated breaking Enya's train of thought, "I guess we keep heading this way till we find something."

"Or you can just come to my place." B.E.N interrupted. The two teenagers stared at him.

"You didn't think to mention this before?!" Jim shouted glaring at B.E.N in frustration. B.E.N merely shrugged.

"I guess it didn't occur to me!"

Jim sighed, "Whatever; lead the way."

….

Dusk was starting to come, and Enya along with Jim, had brought the rest of their friends to where B.E.N lived. It was a large metal structure that had been overgrown by the planet's vegetation making it blend in fairly well with its surroundings; the perfect place to hide.

Doctor Doppler was tending to Captain Amelia, while Donald's healing spells had helped to ease the pain somewhat, it hadn't been enough to completely help. The Captain kept jumping between her normal authoritative self and a lucid state. While Doppler was occupied with Amelia, the rest of the group sat around in a circle trying to figure out what to do next.

"We can't find the treasure without the map," Jim stated simply, running a hand through his hair in frustration, "This world is huge, without the map we have no idea where to even start."

"What do you suggest we do?" Riku replied, "The map is back on the ship with the pirates, pirates who wouldn't think twice about killing us."

"Even if we had the map it wouldn't make a difference," Sora sighed resting his head in his hands, "Sure, we could find the treasure but then what? The pirates have control of the Legacy and the gummi ship is back on Montressor. We're stuck here."

The group fell silent, trying to think of something, anything that would help them out of their current state. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have any idea on what to do. Suddenly a cry broke through everyone's thoughts.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, she pointed out the window and looked terrified. Rushing over to see what had happened Sora saw several of pirates making their way towards the hideout.

"How did they find us?!" Sora exclaimed quickly ducking down and pulling Kairi down as well.

"Oh that's easy," B.E.N said going over to Captain Amelia and offering her and Doctor Doppler something to drink, "when I went out to get some supplies I bumped into your buddies out there! They told me they were lookin' for ya, so I gave them directions."

"You what?!" Jim shouted. At that moment the pirates had opened fire on the hideout and everyone hit the floor to avoid being blasted with a plasma gun.

"Hold yer fire!" A familiar voice called to the pirates. Peeking out the window Sora could see Silver waving the pirates to stop the onslaught. "Jimbo? If it's alright the Captain, I'd like a short word with ya. No tricks!"

"What is he up to?" Riku muttered also peering out at the pirates, "What could he want from us. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Sora asked.

"Unless he thinks that we still have the map," Riku replied, "If he didn't realize that you had morph and not the map he probably wants to bargain for it."

….

A few moments later Enya and Sora were slowly approaching Silver. Jim had wanted to be the one to go, but Sora ad argued against it, worried that Jim's own personal feelings and anger would give them away. Enya had gone with Sora, mostly to keep an eye on him in case Silver had been lying once again and had something planned. Sora noticed, with a small smirk of satisfaction, that Silver was limping slightly on his robotic leg. Silver noticed Sora's gaze and gave a small chuckle as he sat down.

"This leg of mine has been downright snarky since that game of tag we had by the long boats. I must say boy'o I'm impressed with how you fight with that keyblade of yers."

Sora crossed his arms, "What do you want, Silver?"

"The map of course," Silver said with a bark of laughter, "Look, things didn't go according to plan back on the ship. I had no intention of you, your friends, or Jimbo getting caught up the way you did. But if we play our cards right, we can all walk away from this rich as kings!"

Sora glanced at Enya, then back at Silver, "Yeah?"

"You get me that map, and you all get an even portion of the treasure!"

Sora's expression turned sad. He had liked Silver, his jovial attitude and stories while they had all been on the R.L.S Legacy had made the trip enjoyable. Sora had even considered the cyborg a friend. Now, he wished they had heeded Billy Bone's warning. _'Beware the Cyborg'_ the old salamander had said.

"Silver," Sora said slowly, "There are more important things in this world than treasure. I thought you knew that, but I guess I was wrong."

Sora turned his back on the old pirate and his voice, while determined carried a tone of that sadness he felt in his heart, "We won't give you the map. I'm going to make sure you never get your hands on Flint's Trove."

Silver's look turned dark and he grabbed Sora by the shoulder spinning him around, "That treasure is mine, boy! A life time of searching and you think that I'm going to give it up because of a nose whipping little whelp like you?!"

Enya sprang forward, forcing herself between Silver and Sora. She had summoned one of her daggers and pointed it at Silver, eyes flashing protectively. The pirate glared down at her but didn't risk coming any closer.

"You should learn when to pick a fight, lass," Silver said his robotic eye flashing red at Enya.

"I could say the same to you," Enya retorted, "You were the one that started all of this. You are really something…"

Silver took a small step back in confusion, as Enya lowered her dagger slowly. Her expression had changed to one of disappointment.

"You know you had us all fooled, pretending to care about us, especially Jim. Everything you did: the talks, taking Jim out on the solar boat, even comforting him after what happened to Mr. Arrow; it was all a lie. How could you-"

"Enough!" Silver bellowed loudly. The words cut Silver deeper than a dagger ever could. He couldn't let his emotions get between him and the treasure. So instead he looked coldly down at the two siblings, "Mark me, either I get that map by dawn tomorrow, or so help me – I blast you all to kingdom come!"

With that Silver turned his back on them and stormed back towards the pirate camp, leaving Enya and Sora alone in the middle of no-man's-land. There was something ominous in the air, Silver's words echoing through their ears.

Enya glanced at Sora, "What are we going to do?"

Sora continued to stare after Silver, a look of worry across his usually cheerful face, "I don't know, Enya. I don't know…"

….

_One more section to go on this chapter, I was going to make it in only three parts but this third half was already almost forty pages long, and I figured you had all waited far longer than necessary. So, one last part on Treasure Planet! Tell me what you think of the friends adventures, what do you think will happen next. What other worlds await them! Comment and I promise you won't have to wait as long for the final part! _


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